by Manan Shah | Mar 8, 2023 | Commentary |
Investment into advanced nuclear technologies has become central to national and global efforts to achieve near-term decarbonization targets. The rationale is simple. Nuclear power – which currently constitutes 20% of the U.S. energy mix – produces no carbon emissions during operation and is capable of producing electricity around the clock the same way that baseload fossil fuels can. Simply put, clean nuclear power can replace fossil fuel electricity generation to drastically decarbonize grids globally. Recognizing this immense potential, the public and private sectors have recently launched several efforts to invest and support the commercialization of advanced nuclear reactor and fuel technologies to mitigate concerns such as waste disposal, cost and project management, and operational safety. The importance of this effort is not only critical for the decarbonization of developed markets such as the U.S., but perhaps even more so for the potential to deploy clean and abundant power to emerging and industrializing nations that have not historically been able to leverage nuclear power. Despite advanced nuclear reactor concepts attracting billions in private and public sector financing, advanced nuclear fuels that are optimized for use in existing reactors offer the path of least resistance for the near-term deployment of advanced nuclear technologies. Much of this stems from two fundamental requirements to commercialize any U.S.-based advanced nuclear reactor technology. First, any new reactor technology must be licensed to operate by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the requirement under the Atomic Energy Act for the licensing of “production or utilization facilities” can be found at AEA Sections 101, 103, and 104, codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 2131-34). Despite this, there currently is...
