Nuclear

As demand rises, re-thinking nuclear siting may be key

A new report suggests that between 60 and 95 MW of nuclear power could be added by installing capacity at existing and recently retired power plants.
As demand rises, re-thinking nuclear siting may be key
(The Fermi Nuclear Generating Station, located on Lake Erie in Monroe County, Michigan. Image by Flickr.)

With electricity demand projected to rise over the next decade with data centers, electric vehicles, and industrial processes all promising to require hefty amounts of megawatts, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has estimated that 200 GW of new nuclear capacity will be needed by 2050 to support this growth.

A new DOE report suggests that nearly half of that nuclear goal – between 60 and 95 MW – could be met by installing capacity at existing and recently retired power plants. The report, Evaluation of Nuclear Power Plant and Coal Power Plant Sites for New Nuclear Capacity, was prepared for DOE by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

The new report examined all 54 operating and 11 recently retired nuclear power plant sites across 31 states. To estimate the viability of potentially adding new capacity at these locations, researchers looked at the sites’ footprint and acreage, aerial analysis, utility plans, and a siting analysis tool developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

Researchers also considered other factors such as the availability of adequate cooling water, proximity to large population centers or hazardous facilities, along with unacceptable seismic or flood hazards to assess potential deployment options. 

Existing sites

Early research shows that 41 operating and retired nuclear power plant sites have room to host one or more large light-water reactors, such as the AP1000 reactors recently built at Vogtle in Georgia, DOE said. This would create an additional 60 GW of new capacity. That number could grow to 95 GW by including sites that can potentially host smaller, advanced reactors of 600 MW.

These would be “ideal” places to start building new reactors, DOE said.

A speed-up in licensing

Researchers also looked at sites with operating nuclear power plants where companies have previously engaged with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on licensing for 17 additional reactors. While these reactors were never built, they were planned to be added to existing sites and could have led to 24 GW of clean energy capacity. 

According to the report, the NRC previously issued combined construction and operating licenses (COL) for eight large reactors at five existing sites—meaning they were already characterized, evaluated and determined to be suitable for operation. Additional COL applications for nine more reactors were initiated at seven additional sites but were suspended or withdrawn before the NRC completed its review. 

DOE maintains that taking advantage of previous licensing engagements could speed up the licensing process and save time and money for new builds. 

What’s next?

The report also looked at building nuclear power plants at or near coal plants and found an additional 128 to 174 GW of new nuclear capacity could be built, depending on the reactor type. 

DOE said these findings align with its previous research on coal-to nuclear transitions that could leverage the existing workforce and some of the infrastructure in these energy communities. However, the DOE noted that this was only a preliminary analysis.

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