Environmentalists could howl at the thought, but talking about the future of CPS Energy and San Antonio’s long-term plan to reduce carbon emissions should include consideration of next-generation nuclear power plants.
Others in the United States, some European countries, and Asia are already exploring the possibilities. CPS Energy did so too, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved permits were canceled in 2018, two years after CPS halted preliminary studies following the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan and the growing supply of cheap natural gas in Texas.
As retired naval nuclear submarine commander and resident of San Antonio Mike Chapline wrote in a comment posted here on Aug. 10, 2021: “The nuclear safety record in our region is unprecedented. The South Texas Project has operated very safely and reliably throughout its life, with only three reactor trips in the past few years. “
CPS Energy gets 14% of its electricity from the South Texas Project, which is located along the Texas Gulf Coast in Matagorda County. The local energy company owns a 40% stake in STP, while NRG Energy owns 44% and the City of Austin owns 14%. The system has been running without major incidents for more than three decades and has helped CPS Energy to keep electricity affordable and reliable.
Even during the winter storm and the nationwide blackout, STP was still at 100% capacity. Without that power, San Antonio would have endured much worse in February.
Those who oppose nuclear energy here continue to benefit from it on a daily basis.
Nuclear expansion across the US stalled after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2016, the second worst nuclear disaster in history after Chernobyl 40 years earlier in 1986. The US safety record has been impeccable since the Three Mile Island incident in Pennsylvania in 1979, a core meltdown that released radioactive gases, but no injuries or deaths.
Opponents of nuclear power also lead the issue of spent nuclear fuel, questioning the reliability of its safe storage and possible conversion into future fuel sources for next-generation facilities. Both sides of this debate are explored in this 2009 Scientific American article. I tend to believe that future technology and innovation will ultimately solve the problem.
What most of CPS Energy’s tariff payers may not know is that work is already underway to design and build next generation nuclear power plants known as small modular reactors, which proponents say will be far less expensive than conventional reactors, which are now in operation.
A partnership between Houston, Austin, and San Antonio would help spread the development costs.
Here in the US, for example, Microsoft founder Bill Gates chairs TerraPower, based in Bellevue, Washington, and Warren Buffett is chairman of PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which jointly leads a small advanced reactor with salt storage in Wyoming Coal producer in the country.
In England, Rolls Royce SMR is leading the design and construction of the proposed nuclear expansion. French President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech last month announcing France’s plans to expand its nuclear footprint to meet its carbon neutral targets by 2050 – in a country that is already three quarters of the world its energy from nuclear power.
Other European countries, led by Germany, are opposed to nuclear expansion in Europe. In Europe and the US, politics rather than science will influence whether or not nuclear expansion accelerates in the next decade.
China, the world’s largest consumer of coal for power generation, has plans to expand nuclear power by 40% by 2025, which would mean nuclear, solar, and wind account for 20% of the country’s energy consumption.
Dallas-based Texas 2036 founder Tom Luce and his colleagues recently posted a comment urging the Texan energy sector to compete with other states for billions in energy diversification funds included in the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . The nuclear expansion is unfortunately not mentioned.
San Antonio tech leader Lew Moorman publishes a regular blog, Movements Start Small, which recently looked at climate change and called for a renewal of nuclear power expansion.
Readers interested in learning more about the state of the art in nuclear research and development in the United States can visit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission website. Doesn’t it make sense in the local area to include the expansion of nuclear power in the conversation while CPS Energy is looking for its next market leader and a more sustainable energy portfolio?
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