Kempfer opines that we have an opportunity to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced nuclear technology in a way that aligns to the scale of the climate challenge- but to do this, American innovators and the US government must work together to build a new and ambitious policy agenda creating a 2.0 version of advanced nuclear innovation. Over the last decade there has been significant technological, financial, and policy progress toward developing advanced nuclear reactors in the US. There are multiple designs that can be built before 2030, but this will require partnerships between the public and private sectors to scale up quickly. Primarily- this means providing the infrastructure and funding to develop and commercialize multiple American advanced nuclear power plants by the end of the next decade. As we enter this next phase, we’ve outlined the policy goals that need to be addressed, and the steps Congress and federal agencies should take to put American advanced reactors on the fast track to commercialization.
The increased urgency to address climate change combined with fierce competition from Russia and China are serving as a wake-up call to America’s nuclear energy innovation community. If the US wants to be a leader in carbon-free advanced reactor technologies, it’s time to take this effort to the next level with a more aggressive national strategy supported by federal policy.
Over the next three decades, countries with developing markets will need enormous amounts of scalable, flexible, clean power and industrial process heat. Nuclear energy can help meet this new demand, especially with the addition of advanced reactor designs that can serve a wider variety of needs. However, this raises a number of questions: Who will benefit economically from designing and building these plants? Will they be compliant with the highest international nuclear security, safety, and non-proliferation standards? Will viable new products hit the market in time to make a sizable impact on the world’s mid-century emissions goals?
These are all questions American innovators and the US government must work together to answer. We need to build a new and ambitious policy agenda for the next phase of developing advanced nuclear power, including both small modular light-water reactors and non-light-water reactors. This coordination is the only way the U.S. can accelerate the development and deployment of domestic advanced nuclear technology in a timeframe that can also make a substantial difference in reducing carbon pollution.
For nearly a half-century after the first wave of reactors were built, innovation in the field of nuclear energy was slow and sporadic. R&D was limited to US National Labs and universities, and technological improvements were incremental and modest. Starting in the mid-2000’s, however, technical progress, growing urgency around climate solutions, and a surge in early private investment rapidly accelerated research and the number of companies developing new reactors. By the early part of the 2010’s the advanced nuclear community had evolved into an actual industry that continues to expand. Thanks to implementation of smart policies, modernization of the licensing process, and an increase in both private and federal investments, the number of advanced nuclear projects increased by 50% in the three-year span from 2015 to 2018.
More than $1.3 billion in private capital from a variety of venture capital firms, companies like Fluor, and big-name funders like Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold, has been invested in advanced nuclear startups and projects by established companies.3 Support for the industry is growing in Washington as well. The Obama Administration launched the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear initiative (GAIN), which continues to provide needed coordination and leadership for innovators working with the National Labs. The Department of Energy has issued more than $100 million in grants for private innovators to work with the labs on research to move advanced reactors closer to commercialization.4 Overwhelmingly bipartisan majorities in congress passed, and President Trump signed into law, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) and the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA).5 These proposals were the highest priorities for advanced nuclear innovators and will accelerate the modernization of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), provide needed financial support and resources towards the development of advanced reactor fuel, and increase opportunities for developers to collaborate with universities and the national labs. Five companies are already working with the NRC to prepare for licensing, and NuScale just completed the third phase of the first ever, small modular reactor-design-certification application process.6 Even before Congress passed legislation to mandate it, substantial efforts were in progress at the NRC to modernize its structure and processes to better accommodate advanced reactor developers.7
Advanced nuclear innovators, clean energy advocates, and policymakers set out some ambitious initial policy goals to get advanced nuclear innovation moving. Now, the U.S. government must take the next step and commit to creating a 2.0 version of advanced nuclear innovation policy. This will require providing the infrastructure and funding to develop and commercialize multiple American advanced nuclear power plants by the end of the next decade.
Whether it’s the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report released in October 2018 or the U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment released in November 2018, analysis is more stark than ever that we must take decisive action right away to address climate change.8 This means taking every step possible to eliminate climate pollution and limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. That should include accelerating the development of advanced nuclear to provide power, process heat, and other services that can displace fossil fuels in the developed world and help meet growing energy demand in emerging markets.
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