Media Coverage
Source: Platts Nucleonics Week
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
04.27.23
Nuclear industry professionals including Pillsbury Energy partners Tim Walsh and Anne Leidich recently participated in a panel discussion to explore the fact that half of the existing nuclear reactor fleet in the U.S. is considering capacity increases to take advantage of clean energy tax credits, and that several nuclear power plant owners are working on hydrogen production demonstration projects to aid the clean energy transition.
Walsh added that Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island nuclear plant in Minnesota, Constellation Energy’s Nine Mile Point in New York, Arizona Public Service’s Palo Verde plant in Arizona and Energy Harbor’s Davis Besse in Ohio are among the nuclear stations working on hydrogen production demonstration projects.
The increased interest in boosting the capacity at existing reactors through applications at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission marks “a drastic turnaround from a few years ago,” Walsh said. Previously, nuclear plant owners were shutting down or considering shutdowns due to economic losses and competition from cheaper generation resources. “We believe the retirements have essentially stopped for the time being,” mainly because tax credit provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act specific to keeping current nuclear generation units operating are estimated at $30 billion before being phased out, he explained.
Energy partner Anne Leidich offered additional insight to Platts Nucleonics Week, regarding the bonus tax credits for small modular reactors to be sited at retired coal plants or brownfield sites are available.
With coal plant retirements occurring with increased frequency and the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) showing promise, “it’s a different world out there” for nuclear generation in the future, Leidich said. With clean electricity production tax credits geared toward “first movers” in adding new reactors between 2025 and 2032, progress on SMRs is taking place “in a manner I didn’t expect to happen,” she concluded.
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