The Biden government supports the nuclear power industry at the federal level to promote carbon-free energy and meet its emissions targets.
“The DOE has not subsidized facilities in the past, but I think this is a moment to consider and maybe in the American employment plan or somewhere to make sure we keep the current fleet active,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at a hearing before a home remedies subcommittee on Thursday. “We will not achieve our climate goals if our nuclear power plants are decommissioned. We have to find ways to keep them operational.”
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The nuclear industry faces rising costs, aging infrastructure, competition from other energy sources and political opposition. It is planned to close reactors at two nuclear power plants in Illinois this year. New York State Indian Point closed last month. Only one reactor has been commissioned in the last 20 years. Two new reactors are under construction in Georgia.
Yet the U.S. still has more than 90 operational nuclear reactors, which account for about 20 percent of America’s electricity generation and more than half of the country’s zero-emission electricity.
“President Biden’s net zero electricity target for the energy sector by 2035 exceeds even the greenest countries’ goals to eliminate emissions by 2040-2050,” said Timothy Fox, vice president of ClearView Energy Partners, an energy analyst. “Net-zero electricity by 2035 already looks like a heavy elevator. Getting by without the existing nuclear fleet seems more like magical thinking.”
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While Biden has publicly pushed spending on research on a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors, the White House has signaled that it is also backing tax credits, likely as part of the administration’s infrastructure and spending plan to keep existing reactors from being closed, according to a Reuters -Report.
“I urge you to take measures to preserve our existing nuclear fleet and prevent further closures,” wrote Chairman Joe Manchin of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in a letter to the President. “I believe the federal government must do everything possible to protect this vital resource.”
The president mentioned the nuclear industry on the sale of his plans to boost American manufacturing and employment, despite a split among Democrats over the future of the nuclear industry.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said the US should phase out nuclear power by 2035. In Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) Green Green Deal, he called nuclear energy the “wrong solution” and argued that “By-products of toxic waste from nuclear power plants are not worth the risks of the technology’s benefits, especially given the lessons learned from the meltdown Fukushima and the Chernobyl disaster. “
“Paying to keep aging reactors online is a disaster and is guaranteed to slow down the deployment of truly clean renewable energies,” said Lukas Ross, program manager at Friends of the Earth. “Congress and President Biden shouldn’t toss good money after bad.”
The opponents point to the massive cost and cost overruns in connection with the construction of new reactors. Once operational, they face significant security costs and completion due to falling prices for other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
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There is also nuclear waste. The US has more than 80,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants, according to the Government Accountability Office. Most of the spent fuel is stored at reactor sites across the country.
The government’s decision to support nuclear power plants could also impact other sources as the US seeks to deliver on its aggressive emissions pledge.
“If President Biden is willing to spurn some environmentalists in his base in order to keep nuclear power alive, it can add to his seriousness in achieving the goal, and that means natural gas should not expect any support as a ‘bridge fuel’,” said Fox.
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