The world has turned its back on nuclear energy. I think the reasons are more emotional than based on an understanding of the pros and cons of nuclear power.
I understand the expense, development time drawbacks, and waste concerns with nuclear. But I also understand that it’s much more efficient than wind and solar and aligns better with the current grid architecture. And today’s technology has come a long was from the 1970s version of nuclear.
So I’m in favor of reevaluating nuclear and was happy to see that NuScale Power’s 50 MW small modular reactor has been certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
But the question I posed was whether nuclear is essential to our climate goals?
Consider this: In the U.S. nuclear provides about 20% of all our power and 50% of our zero emissions energy. Shuttering these plants means we have to replace the generation with other sources of clean energy. That is easier said than done as California has discovered. They recently had to reverse their decision to close the Diablo Canyon plant.
That scenario is playing out in other areas so for me the answer is yes. Please weigh in on the topic. Would love to start a dialogue.