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Nuclear Energy Progressing Now as Part of Climate Solution [1]

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Date: 2023-03-02  

Last week I had the chance to attend the Maryland Clean Energy Center legislative breakfast. MCEC is, essentially, a state-sponsored clearinghouse of those interested in the technologies that might help Maryland create a Carbon-Free economy by 2045. Among the speakers was Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor, the director of the Maryland Energy Administration, and the Chair of the Senate Energy Committee. The exchange of ideas allows those who run Maryland’s government to exchange ideas on what might work, and when, to reach the clean energy goal.

One of the speakers was Lael Campbell from Constellation Energy. Constellation is, by far, the largest producer of clean energy in the country. Mr. Campbell spoke for about fifteen minutes on, primarily, two topics. The first was the necessity and the promise of creating clean hydrogen fuel from nuclear power plants. The second was on both Constellation’s and the federal government’s plans to create hourly matching clean energy. That way, the clean energy made can be used in lieu of fossil energy. In short, it is a way to measure, then achieve an actual zero-emissions energy. Current net zero measures, allow fossil fuels to be used, if on an annual average, the energy is net zero. In short, you can overuse green energy at some times and still burn fossil fuel at other times. Essentially, you can dump your clean energy credits and still have fossil energy when you need it. Constellation Energy Presentation Hourly matching means you have to not use fossil fuels, ever.

There is no reason to watch this entire video. Mr. Campbell’s presentation starts at 1:05:30 of the film and ends at 1:22:50. Also, some of the videos he shows have some poor audio signals.

I’ll follow this up with a very simple article explaining ways Constellation is expanding their nuclear energy profile in, in this case, Illinois. Constellation Increases Nuclear Investment in Illinois. The article goes on to say Constellation is investing in two reactors in Illinois and also using a reactor in New York with the purpose of creating clean hydrogen.

Since Constellation is the largest clean energy producer in the U.S., their commitment to clean nuclear power and hydrogen fuel is encouraging. It also shows that major investments are now being made in nuclear energy, a dramatic shift in the energy playing field. This is possible because a majority of Americans now favor the use of nuclear energy, albeit a slim majority.

From a technological point of view, these are not radical new nuclear energy developments. These are simply efforts to harness nuclear energy more efficiently. The newer nuclear energy technology is coming along with the first of the new small modular reactor (SMR) technologies approved in 2022. Lots of newer, more efficient nuclear energy technologies are slowly working their way through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review process.

Beyond being more efficient and safer than the current technologies, these SMR’s promise to be, eventually, cheaper. The reason for this is that most are designed to be factory-built and shipped to the site to be installed. One design, that of X-Energy was studied to evaluate whether it would be possible to replace coal plants with its new nuclear energy technology. It was possible at the site studied, and the questions that need to be asked for other coal plant replacements were enumerated. The advantage of this is obvious. At existing sites, land, transmission systems, and a skilled workforce are already in place. Now, we need to move forward with a study to replace oil and natural gas plants. Then, a zero-emissions economy becomes possible.

I also visited Maryland’s nuclear power facility at Calvert Cliffs in December. That plant produces 37% of Maryland’s electricity, about 80% of its clean electricity. The plant has no cooling towers, but instead uses waters of the Chesapeake Bay to remove excess energy. Since Bay waters are already heating, I asked if there was a plan to, instead, use the excess heat to create clean hydrogen. He said, that that idea was currently being evaluated, and at this point seemed likely.

Again, it finally seems that the major energy players are moving towards a nuclear energy/hydrogen fuel economy. The technologies already exist, and a getting better by the day. The only questions remaining are costs, timeline and public support.

It is time to shift that current slim margin in favor of nuclear energy to combat climate change to a large majority. I hope the Kos community can join this effort.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/2/2155900/-Nuclear-Energy-Progressing-Now-as-Part-of-Climate-Solution

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