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Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The U.S. Needs More Nuclear Power To Fuel the Artificial Intelligence Boom
AI is bringing enormous benefits to consumers and businesses. It is also bringing significant strain to the power grid. Some researchers estimate that one ChatGPT query requires the energy equivalent of lighting a lightbulb for 20 minutes and 10 times as much electricity as a single Google search. Goldman Sachs projects that AI will increase data center power demand by 160 percent nationwide through 2030. The Department of Energy also expects data centers' energy use to balloon. A December 2024 report forecasts that cloud computing will account for as much as 12 percent of the nation's annual energy use by 2028—up from 4.4 percent in 2023. Virginia, California, and Texas will each serve as a "primary hub" for both small- and large-scale cloud data centers, according to the Energy Department. Texas is the fastest-growing consumer of electricity in the nation, according to the Energy Information Administration. In 2024, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)—which manages about 90 percent of the state's grid—said electricity demands could nearly double by 2030 as data centers and cryptocurrency grow and as oil operations in the Permian Basin begin to run on electricity instead of diesel. In March, ERCOT said it has received requests for 99 gigawatts (GW) of new connections—enough to power almost 25 million homes—from large power users (including data centers) in the past year. The state will need to add the energy equivalent of 30 nuclear power plants by 2030 to meet demand, reports Bloomberg. Last Energy is preparing to deliver 30 such reactors—microreactors, that is. In February, the company announced plans to build 30 of its 20-megawatt reactors in Haskell County, Texas, to service data centers across the state. The site is conveniently located 200 miles west of Dallas, where data centers are expected to add 43 GW of demand to the grid through 2029. The company has filed for a grid connection with ERCOT, which takes about 18–30 months to complete, according to the regulator. Last Energy is also in the process of applying for an Early Site Permit with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Once obtained, the company will have a 10–20 year window to build its reactors. This will be Last Energy's first operational project in the United States. Despite being an American company, Last Energy has focused on growing its business abroad because of stringent federal regulations. The developer sued the NRC in December 2024, challenging an agency rule requiring all nuclear power–producing entities—including those that do not generate enough electricity to turn on a lightbulb—to obtain an operating license from the commission before turning on. Texas isn't the only state turning to nuclear power to meet its data center demand. In Virginia, where data centers could double the state's power demands by 2034, Amazon is partnering with Dominion Energy to develop three new nuclear energy projects. Three Mile Island in Middletown, Pennsylvania, is restarting to provide energy to Microsoft's data servers. The power plant was shut down in 2019. These efforts will only be as cost-effective and efficient as regulations allow. But the renewed interest in clean and reliable nuclear power could allow the U.S. to make advancements in AI with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. The post The U.S. Needs More Nuclear Power To Fuel the AI Boom appeared first on
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana wants to pave the way for small nuclear reactors, an untested technology in the U.S.
A small modular nuclear reactor is shown in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of Last Energy) The Louisiana Legislature is working to speed up the permitting process to allow small nuclear reactors to be added to the state's portfolio of energy production. Although the technology is not yet in use in the United States, proponents see it as a low-emissions option to provide electricity in areas that struggle to get reliable power. Energy analysts say there are reasons why what are known as small modular reactors (SMRs) have not caught on yet in America – chief among them is the cost. Senate Bill 127, by Sen. Adam Bass, R-Bossier City, would allow the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to create an expedited environmental permitting process for building small modular reactors. That would position the state to be ready when the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows the projects to move forward. The bill advanced out of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality and heads next to the full Senate. 'You have companies in states like Texas that are starting that process,' LDEQ Secretary Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto said Tuesday at the State Capitol after the Senate committee hearing on Bass' bill. Supporters of the proposal hope SMRs can be used by not only utilities but also industrial facilities that need an exclusive, on-site power source. Gov. Jeff Landry has included nuclear energy as part of an 'all of the above' approach he supports to meet the state's power needs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, small modular reactors range from one-tenth to one-fourth the size of a standard nuclear reactor. They can produce between 10-300 megawatts of power. That's compared to an estimated 2,142 megawatts Entergy reports its two nuclear plants in Louisiana generate combined. The cost to build small nuclear reactors is steep. A study last year from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found the cost to construct an SMR averaged $25,000 per kilowatt generated as of 2023 – more than double the rate in 2015. For a 10-megawatt reactor – the power level for the smallest SMR – the total cost comes to about $250 million. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that in order for utilities to buy into small nuclear reactors, it will take government subsidies and tax credits to make the cost worthwhile. 'If you're trying to make them smaller, they're gonna be less economic unless you come up with some way to compensate for this penalty for making them smaller,' Lyman told the Illuminator in a phone interview. '… There's no one in the world that's ordering SMRs in the amounts that would be needed to start to see the benefit of central manufacturing.' Lyman noted there are two current applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for new nuclear reactors in the U.S, and both 'are half-funded by the federal government and the other half funded by rich people like Bill Gates.' 'So there's actually a lot less going on that meets the eye, and again, the bottom line is cost …' he said. 'Utilities and users know how expensive these things are.' After a strong of nuclear power plant shutdowns in recent decades, there has been a push to bring them back online to address increasing energy needs. This momentum has carried over to introduce SMRs in the United States. Gartias said there is industry interest in placing SMRs near petrochemical plants to reduce their carbon footprint by using nuclear power to run the plants and offset some of their emissions. Although nuclear plants do not produce carbon dioxide, their critics note their environmental impact in the form of uranium mining and waste storage. The Alliance for Affordable Energy, a Louisiana-based consumer advocacy group, is not taking a stance on the Bass bill but wants more answers on who will pay for small modular reactor projects – and whether those costs will be passed down to ratepayers. 'We stopped building nuclear for a long time, but now there are really vague and not very recent examples of us building nuclear on time and on budget,' Jackson Voss, the alliance's climate policy coordinator, told the Illuminator. When asked by committee member Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, what would happen to the waste created by small modular reactors, Bass did not give a clear answer. He said some companies use the waste to generate more power. Connick said he wants more information about the waste before the next vote on the bill on the Senate floor, which has not been scheduled yet. There are no current proposals to place SMRs in Louisiana. A few projects in other states are under licensing review with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the first are projected to be built within the next 10 years. Louisiana recently joined several states in suing the federal government to loosen its regulations around nuclear power. The lawsuit claims blanket rules are not equal for reactors that vary in size. SMRs are safer and create less nuclear waste, so they should have different regulations from the full-sized reactors, the plaintiff states argue. 'Ultimately, if you're looking at what we are doing on the legislative side, see what we are doing when it comes to litigation, that puts in companies' eyes that Louisiana is a desirable state' for nuclear power, Giacometto said. Giacometto said the governor is onboard with the lawsuit. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana joins Utah, Texas in suit on nuclear reactors
In the United States, only three commercial nuclear reactors of any size have been built in the last 28 years. A lawsuit filed by Texas, Utah and a nuclear startup company called Last Energy, and joined this week by Louisiana, targets the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, arguing the lack of nuclear reactor development is by design. 'The root cause is not lack of demand or technology — but rather the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ('NRC'), which, despite its name, does not really regulate new nuclear reactor construction so much as ensure that it almost never happens,' the lawsuit reads. 'Despite the promise of advanced nuclear technology to improve safety and reliability, and despite numerous laws designed to encourage small modular innovation, the NRC's misreading of its own scope of authority has become a virtually insuperable obstacle.' This obstacle, the lawsuit asserts, is not the regime Congress envisioned. The lawsuit details that Last Energy has invested tens of millions of dollars in developing the technology for small nuclear reactors, including $2 million on manufacturing efforts in Texas alone. Last Energy's entire nuclear system operates inside of a container that is fully sealed with 12-inch-thick steel walls, and as such, has no credible mode of radioactive release even in the worst reasonable scenario. Although it has a preference in the United States, the company has been forced to turn to foreign countries because of the NRC, according to the lawsuit. 'As of 2024, Last Energy has agreements to develop over 50 nuclear reactor facilities across Europe, which would produce power worth tens of billions of dollars over their lifetime,' the lawsuit reads. One such project in the United Kingdom would lead to $400 million in investment for the economy in Wales. The states and company want a rule called the Utilization Facility Rule nixed, arguing it is being applied in an arbitrary and capricious fashion that hamstrings development of advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors and microreactors. The lawsuit states that the Department of Energy has observed that small modular reactors, or SMRs, typically offer numerous advantages over traditional nuclear power plants. These include lower cost and capital investment, because SMR units are typically modular, prefabricated and then installed on-site; have a smaller footprint, creating greater siting flexibility and allowing deployment in locations inaccessible to conventional nuclear reactors; require less frequent refueling; and have greater efficiency and faster construction, facilitating incremental development. The lawsuit argues the stringent permitting regulations on these advanced nuclear technologies do not match the health and safety risks they pose. 'Even before the prevalence of many of the safety features that are built into typical modern SMRs, nuclear power was already far safer than almost every other leading form of power generation. For example, hydropower results in 43 times as many deaths as nuclear power, natural gas 93 times as nuclear power, biomass 153 times as many, oil 613 times as many and brown coal 1,090 times as many; even wind power is deadlier and solar is barely safer,' the suit reads. In fact, the suit points out, in terms of radiation exposure alone, fly ash — an emission from power plants burning coal — is far more radioactive than emissions from nuclear waste. Fly ash emitted by a coal plant can release up to 100 times more radiation into the atmosphere than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy. The Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, a consortium of independent power producers like Bountiful, Murray and Lehi, sought a source of baseload power given the pressure on coal-fired power plants. They partnered with nuclear energy developer NuScale and the Idaho National Laboratory to site a small modular nuclear reactor as a viable baseload alternative. But years of permitting delays drove up costs outside of what was feasible, so the effort was scrapped despite the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. The licensing costs are high. Utilization facilities that are operating power reactors must pay annual fees of $5.3 million dollars. The lawsuit points out that the NRC is anticipating collecting over $808 million in fees from private parties in fiscal year 2024. 'Even apart from specific fees, the ongoing regulatory burden is immense. One study from 2017 estimated that the average nuclear plant bears an NRC-imposed regulatory burden of $60 million annually, when fees, paperwork compliance, and capital expenditures are considered,' the lawsuit contends. Both Texas and Utah claim injuries due to the NRC. 'Utah recognizes it's headed towards an energy crisis due to rapid population growth, increasing electrification of society, more energy intensive industries, and retiring baseload power sources. To address the problem, Utah needs and plans to double its power production over the next decade via a recently announced initiative called 'Operation Gigawatt,'' the lawsuit says. 'But Utah's ability to use (or allow industry to use) SMRs to address the energy crisis is severely and unnecessarily restricted by the NRC's unlawful regulations,' it asserts. Last Energy said after spending $2 million on a project to manufacture nuclear reactors in Texas, it was forced to abandon it because of 'prohibitive' federal regulations and instead move its investment to foreign countries. 'Last Energy determined the cost and time to receive a license in the United States was so radically disproportionate to the risk that it was infeasible to pursue as a small business, despite having superior technology that would benefit Texas and the rest of the United States,' according to the lawsuit. In 2024, then-Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, introduced the Advanced Nuclear Reactor Prize Act that authorized the U.S. secretary of Energy to award grants to cover fees assessed by the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 'The costs and red tape associated with our permitting process are proving to be duplicative and ineffective,' Curtis said. 'We need innovation in the nuclear space to ensure affordable, reliable and clean energy in our future and Congress must do more to ensure that can happen.' Curtis, now a senator, successfully got the legislation through and it was signed by President Joe Biden. Critics of nuclear energy, however, argue it is right that the government takes it time on nuclear energy in the interest of public safety, nuclear waste storage issues and, ultimately, the cost to ratepayers.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana joins lawsuit to toss federal rule on small nuclear reactors
A small modular nuclear reactor is shown in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of Last Energy) Louisiana is joining a lawsuit to overturn a federal rule as the state looks to roll back regulations on small nuclear reactors. Gov. Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) announced Tuesday the state will join Texas, Utah and energy company Last Energy in challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 'utilization facility rule,' a licensing requirement that applies uniformly to all nuclear reactors, regardless of size or risk profile. Landry said the state is amenable to the development of small modular reactors, or SMRs, with a capacity to produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity. By comparison, Entergy's Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Mississippi, which provides part of the utility's power, has more than 1,400 MW of generation capability 'Joining this lawsuit is about defending our ability to pursue advanced energy solutions like SMRs — solutions that are reliable, clean and essential for economic development in the State,' Landry said in a LDEQ news release. The governor, Attorney General Liz Murrill and LDEQ secretary Aurelia Giacometto said in the release that, with a favorable outcome in the lawsuit, Louisiana could be uniquely poised to benefit from adding SMRs. At a separate news conference Tuesday morning, Landry noted the state already gets its electricity from a variety of sources, including natural gas-powered plants, coal-fired plants, hydroelectric facilities and nuclear power plants. 'The state of Louisiana has always been living in 'all-of-the-above' for over 50 years,' the governor said. Originally filed in Texas in December, the federal lawsuit claims the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule has overextended its authority to regulate small modular reactors under the utilization facility rule. The lawsuit claims SMRs typically carry a lower safety and financial risk profile than larger reactors because of the 'insignificant' amount of nuclear material it uses, making it unreasonable to apply the same regulations. 'Members of the public would be exposed to only insignificant amounts of nuclear radiation, even in the case of a meltdown,' the lawsuit reads. The lawsuit seeks to make it easier for Last Energy, a commercial nuclear reactor manufacturer with headquarters in Washington, D.C., to expand the use of its small modular reactors. The power source option is growing increasingly relevant as the military and data centers across the country look for large amounts of reliable energy to power their operations. Nuclear development in the United States has substantially slowed since the 1980s, though nuclear plants account for nearly 20% of U.S. electricity generation overall and about 55% of U.S. carbon‐free electricity, according to the World Nuclear Association. 'We are ready to take the next step and lead in the deployment and oversight of SMRs,' said Giacometto in the release. 'If this challenge succeeds, states not participating in the case may remain under outdated rules, while Louisiana would be free to lead.' Greg LaRose contributed to this report
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Microreactor builders eye share of growing nuclear market
Summary Microreactor developers are forging commercial pathways with offtakers as an AI boom hikes demand for swift deployment near to end-users. March 27 - Soaring power demand from U.S. data centers has accelerated interest in new microreactors that can be factory-built and trucked to operating sites. Microreactors are small modular reactors (SMRs) with generating capacity of 20 MW or below. Larger SMRs rely on full transmission grid integration while microreactors can be deployed faster, in smaller increments and closer to the point of use. This makes them well suited to serving the soaring demand expected from new data centers in the coming years, particularly when co-located to avoid grid connection and reliability issues. Power-hungry tech groups are backing new nuclear as a dispatchable source of energy and microreactors could claim a share of this market. Several microreactor developers are in talks with commercial offtakers and some are signing early agreements. In one example, Last Energy plans to construct 30 microreactors in Haskell County, Texas to serve data centers. Elsewhere, tech giants like Amazon and Google, opens new tab have signed early agreements with X-energy and Kairos Power to develop larger SMR projects. Raising finance is a critical challenge for new reactor designs but Last Energy's relatively small 20 MW size means projects can be developed through "purely private financing" rather than a subsidy-driven model, a company spokesperson told Reuters Events. The key to accelerating nuclear deployment 'is miniaturising, modularising, and productising plants," the spokesperson said. Join us at Reuters Events SMR & Advanced Reactor 2025, opens new tab and network with over 600 utilities, developers, financiers, technology suppliers and regulators. Microreactors could also be deployed on military bases, mines and remote communities, and ships. Other markets include desalination, hydrogen production, high-temperature manufacturing, maritime propulsion and space exploration, the CEO of developer Nano Nuclear Energy, James Walker, told Reuters Events. To be deployed commercially, microreactor developers must overcome high development costs for first of a kind units while navigating uncertain regulatory and licensing processes and building out a sustainable supply chain, opens new tab. The boost from soaring AI demand is clear, Jake Jurewicz, CEO and co-founder of British reactor developer Blue Energy, told Reuters Events. "There is a strong demand signal coming from companies with enormous resources, which is critical for demonstrating any new technology,' Jurewicz said. Licensing push A number of companies are developing microreactors. To date, Radiant Industries, Terra Innovatum, NANO Nuclear Energy, Last Energy, ARC Clean Technology, Shepherd Power and Westinghouse have all notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of intent to engage on microreactors and other designs are being developed. Models by Nano Nuclear Energy, X-energy and Westinghouse, are in the pre-licensing or early licensing phases. The multi-year design licensing process is a key challenge for developers. Existing regulatory frameworks were designed for large-scale light water reactors (LWRs) but 'the NRC seems to be more proactive" for the licensing of advanced reactors, Tara Righetti, Co-Director of the Nuclear Energy Research Center, told Reuters Events. In February 2025, the NRC proposed halving advanced reactor assessment fees, Righetti noted. The NRC is reforming licensing processes, opens new tab to become less prescriptive on security assessments. The change has been partly driven by the Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024, which called for a more efficient licensing process. Strategies to overcome cost hurdles for new nuclear - download our webinar. Meanwhile, work on a first-of-a-kind mobile microreactor for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) under the name Project Pele could help provide learnings in licensing and deployment. The DoD awarded BWX Technologies a contract to supply 1 to 5 MW microreactors to the project in 2022 and the first unit is scheduled to be taken to Idaho National Laboratory for testing in 2026. This model is authorised by the Department of Energy (DoE) and so does not require NRC licensing, Jacopo Buongiorno, Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), told Reuters Events. Supply lines Westinghouse launched a manufacturing facility for its eVinci microreactor in Pittsburgh in 2023 and the group is on track to begin full-scale manufacturing by 2029 with commercial deployment by the end of the decade, a company spokesperson told Reuters Events. Meanwhile, Blue Energy is developing a modular reactor for both the microreactor and larger SMR markets that could be built in existing shipyards. 'We believe that once a company shows that nuclear can be built on time and on budget, it will break open the flood gates of nuclear demand," Jurewicz said. CHART: Forecast global nuclear capacity Last Energy has signed early customer power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the deployment of more than 80 microreactors, split roughly equally between data centers and industrial customers, including cement and paper manufacturers, the company spokesperson said. Many of these are in Europe, but interest is gaining pace in the U.S., the company said. Despite interest from offtakers, concrete commitments from partners will be needed to ensure the completion of real-world projects. 'Many would be happy to buy nuclear power once it is built – but who is helping to make it happen?," Jurewicz said. Hurdles remain Microreactors will have to prove their technology to attract investors and will have to work closely with the NRC to ensure an efficient licensing process. The NRC must accommodate a plethora of new technologies for microreactors and SMRs. Last Energy is using "proven technology, commercially available supply chains, and existing fuel sources because these are familiar to regulators," the company spokesperson noted. For exclusive nuclear insights, sign up to our newsletter. Nuclear can still face public perception risks and developers face uncertainty regarding subsidies for low carbon technologies and the ability for the NRC to license multiple designs in a time efficient manner, Righetti said. Industrial applications in some states may also face uncertainty over to "what extent utility regulations will apply if the power user is not also the reactor owner/operator", she said. While some developers argue that microreactors are not in competition with large SMRs because they target different markets, Righetti said they could shift the focus of investment away from other nuclear technologies. Most developers are targeting completion of first reactors in around 2030 and eyeing commercial deployments in remote mining and industrial operations by the early 2030s. Last Energy is pushing ahead with deployment in the UK and completed units could help boost its U.S. prospects. The company aims to deliver its first unit in Wales in 2027, pending licensing and permitting processes, and could swiftly follow this with units elsewhere, the company says.
