The Feasibility & Challenges of Converting Retiring Coal Plants into Nuclear Plants

Abstract

Expanding nuclear energy production is key to attaining zero-carbon emissions in the United States and 80% of retired and operating coal plants are a good fit for a coal-to-nuclear (“C2N”) transition. The biggest challenge is that modular nuclear reactor technology is not fully developed and ready for commercial deployment. However, it’s possible that C2N projects will be under way before 2030 despite technological, cost, financing, and permitting barriers because the DOE and the federal government support these projects with substantial credits and subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act. Ultimately, C2N projects are a good option to combat climate change.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Senate, Manchin Hosts Bill Gates to Highlight Mountain State’s Energy Industry History and Role in Ensuring America’s Energy Security, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (Jan. 9, 2023), https://www.energy.senate.gov/2023/1/manchin-hosts-bill-gates-to-highlight-mountain-state-s-energy-industry-history-and-role-in-ensuring-america-s-energy-security.

2 Emily Fisher, Electric Companies & the Clean Energy Transition, EEI (in class presentation).

3 Investigating Benefits and Challenges of Converting Retiring Coal Plants into Nuclear Plants, U.S. Dept. of Energy (Sept. 13, 2022); DOE Report Finds Hundreds of Retiring Coal Plant Sites Could Convert to Nuclear, Office of Nuclear Energy (Sept. 13, 2022), https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/doe-report-finds-hundreds-retiring-coal-plant-sites-could-convert-nuclear; Could the Nation’s Coal Plant Sites Help Drive a Clean Energy Transition?, Office of Nuclear Energy (Sept. 13, 2022), https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/could-nations-coal-plant-sites-help-drive-clean-energy-transition.

4 Investigating Benefits and Challenges of Converting Retiring Coal Plants into Nuclear Plants, U.S. Dept. of Energy (Sept. 13, 2022) (“DOE Report”).

5 Emily Fisher, Electric Companies & the Clean Energy Transition, EEI (in class presentation).

6 Troy Segal, Greenfield vs. Brownfield Investments: What’s the Difference?, Investopedia (Nov. 30, 2021), https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/043015/what-difference-between-green-field-and-brown-field-investment.asp#:∼:text=Greenfield%20and%20brownfield%20investments%20are,or%20leases%20an%20existing%20facility.

7 Jeff Amy, Georgia Nuclear Plant Begins Splitting Atoms for First Time, AP News (Mar. 6, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/georgia-power-nuclear-reactor-electricity-voglte-startup-305145dc46cc1752c2d9371fa70aea35.

8 DOE Report at 48.

9 DOE Report at 44.

10 NRC, New Reactors, (last updated Sept. 19, 2022), https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/smr.html.

11 Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), Office of Nuclear Energy, https://www.energy.gov/ne/advanced-small-modular-reactors-smrs; Department of State, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-arms-control-and-international-security-affairs/bureau-of-international-security-and-nonproliferation/.

12 Carole Nakhle, The Potential of Small Nuclear Reactors, GIS Reports (March 17, 2022), https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/small-modular-reactors/.

13 NRC, Design Certification Application - NuScale US600, (last updated Feb. 17, 2023), https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/smr/licensing-activities/nuscale.html.

14 Office of Nuclear Energy, NRC Certifies First U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design, (Jan. 20, 2023), https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nrc-certifies-first-us-small-modular-reactor-design.

15 TerraPower, Reflecting Upon a Year of Unprecedented Progress, (Dec. 14, 2022), https://www.terrapower.com/reflecting-upon-a-year-of-unprecedented-progress/.

16 Id; TerraPower, Natrium Reactor and Integrated Energy Storage, https://www.terrapower.com/our-work/natriumpower/; TerraPower, The Natrium Project is Underway, (May 19, 2022), https://www.terrapower.com/natrium-project-update/; TerraPower, TerraPower and PacifiCorp Announce Efforts to Expand Natrium Technology Deployment, (Oct. 27, 2022), https://www.terrapower.com/terrapower-and-pacificorp-announce-efforts-to-expand-natrium-technology-deployment/; Paul Day, Coal-to-Nuclear Plans May Speed Up Reactor Build in Series, Reuters (Jan. 16, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/coal-to-nuclear-plans-may-speed-up-reactor-build-series-2023-01-16/.

17 DOE Report at 27.

18 TerraPraxis, The Platform: Global Plant Data, https://www.terrapraxisrepower.com/The-Platform/Global-Plant-Data/(last visited Feb. 25, 2023).

19 DOE, Nuclear Power Summary – Licensing Actions, June 2021, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/NEGTN02-%23227578-v20A-NUCLEAR_INDUSTRY_SCORECARD_SUMMARY.pdf; NRC, Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Process, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/brochures/br0298/index.html; NRC, Design Certification Applications for New Reactors, https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/large-lwr/design-cert.html; 10 C.F.R. 52.103(g).

20 National Conference of State Legislatures, States Restrictions on New Nuclear Power Facility Construction, (Aug. 17, 2021), https://www.ncsl.org/environment-and-natural-resources/states-restrictions-on-new-nuclear-power-facility-construction; NEPA, States and Local Jurisdictions with NEPA-like Environmental Planning Requirements, https://ceq.doe.gov/laws-regulations/states.html.

21 Emily Fisher, Electric Companies & the Clean Energy Transition, EEI (in class presentation).

22 Michael Blood, Regulators Nix Proposal on California’s Last Nuclear Plant, AP News (Jan. 25, 2023), https://apnews.com/article/politics-us-nuclear-regulatory-commission-gavin-newsom-los-angeles-california-514f21f2b0cd5889412a9a10bee422f0.

23 Rayan Sud and Sanjay Patnaik, How Does Permitting for Clean Energy Infrastructure Work, Brookings (Sept. 28, 2022), https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-does-permitting-for-clean-energy-infrastructure-work/.

24 DOE Report at 29-34.

25 Nicholas Watson and Lucy Ashton, Towards a Just Energy Transition: Nuclear Power Boasts Best Paid Jobs in Clean Energy Sector, International Atomic Energy Agency (Apr. 14, 2022), https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/towards-a-just-energy-transition-nuclear-power-boasts-best-paid-jobs-in-clean-energy-sector#:∼:text=%E2%80%9CNuclear%20offers%20jobs,at%20the%20webinar.

26 The second generating facility could continue to run on coal, like the Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida. DOE Report at 55.

27 DOE Report at 68.

28 The 650 new jobs count amount to 360 new jobs at the plant, as well as additional jobs in the supply chain and in the community because of the new nuclear plant. See DOE Report at 55, 70, 72.

29 DOE Report at 63.

30 Gwyneth Cravens, Terrorism and Nuclear Energy: Understanding the Risks, Brookings (Mar. 1, 2002), https://www.brookings.edu/articles/terrorism-and-nuclear-energy-understanding-the-risks/.

31 Supra note 7; Vogtle 3 & 4, Georgia Power (Nov. 2021), chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.georgiapower.com/content/dam/georgia-power/pdfs/company-pdfs/Vogtle-Update_34-Fact-Sheet_11162021_A.pdf.

32 DOE Report at 40.

33 DOE Report at 38-39. See also DOE Report at 41 (presenting a costs chart for a variety of C2N project types).

34 Shuting Pomerleau, Refundability and Transferability of the Clean Energy Tax Credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, Niskanen Center (Nov. 8, 2022), https://www.niskanencenter.org/refundability-and-transferability-clean-energy-tax-credits-inflation-reduction-act/.

35 The Inflation Reduction Act, EPA, https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/inflation-reduction-act#:∼:text=Applicable%20entities%20may%20elect%20to,their%20tax%20liability%20for%20credits. (last visited Apr. 11, 2023).

36 Id.

37 Report on the Transferability of Energy Tax Credits Under Section 6418, N.Y. State Bar Assoc. 1, 6 (Mar. 28, 2023).

38 Peter Maloney, Inflation Reduction Act, Retiring Coal Plants Create Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Plants, American Public Power Assoc. (Oct. 16, 2022), https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/inflation-reduction-act-retiring-coal-plants-create-opportunities-advanced-nuclear-plants.

39 David Kemp and Peter Van Doren, Subsidies to Nuclear Power in the Inflation Reduction Act, CATO Institute (Sept. 28, 2022), https://www.cato.org/blog/subsidies-nuclear-power-inflation-reduction-act#:∼:text=The%20IRA%20expands%20subsidies%20to,take%20one%20of%20these%20subsidies.

40 Inflation Reduction Act Summary, Bipartisan Policy Center, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/IRA-Energy-Summary_web.pdf.

41 Daniel Raimi and Sophie Pesek, What is an “Energy Community”?, Resources (Sept. 7, 2022), https://www.resources.org/common-resources/what-is-an-energy-community/.

42 26 U.S.C. 45Y. See also Paul Gordon et al., Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Boosts Nuclear Power with Tax Credits and Funding, Morgan Lewis (Aug. 16, 2022), https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2022/08/inflation-reduction-act-of-2022-boosts-nuclear-power-with-tax-credits-and-funding.

43 26 U.S.C. 48E.

44 Inflation Reduction Act Summary, Bipartisan Policy Center, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/IRA-Energy-Summary_web.pdf.

45 Nuclear explained, U.S. Energy Information Administration, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/#:∼:text=All%20nuclear%20power%20plants%20use,when%20a%20uranium%20atom%20splits.

46 See Bill Gates, The Surprising Key To a Clean Energy Future, GatesNotes (Jan. 24, 2023), https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Transmission?WT.mc_id=20230123100000_BE-Transmission_BG-EM_&WT.tsrc=BGEM (explaining that the grid could be improved with, “grid-enhancing technologies like dynamic line ratings, power flow controls, and topology optimization could increase the capacity of the existing system”). About 70% transmission lines are more than 25 years old. See White House, Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration Advances Transmission Buildout to Deliver Affordable, Clean Electricity, (Nov. 18, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/18/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-administration-advances-transmission-buildout-to-deliver-affordable-clean-electricity/#:∼:text=An%20estimated%2070%20percent%20of,infrastructure%2C%20and%20economic%20interests%20vulnerable; DOE, The Transmission Mission: Building an Infrastructure for our Clean Energy Future, (Dec. 16, 2022), https://www.energy.gov/articles/transmission-mission-building-infrastructure-our-clean-energy-future#:∼:text=Independent%20estimates%20indicate%20that%20electricity,and%20meet%20growing%20electricity%20needs.

47 Emily Olson, Ukraine’s Top Nuclear Plant Lost Power for the Sixth Time. Is Disaster Imminent?, NPR (Mar. 9, 2023), https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1162172158/ukraine-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-russia.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Celeste A. Fleetwood

Celeste A. Fleetwood attended American University Washington College of Law before transferring to and graduating from Columbia Law School. Prior to law school she worked as a CPA in state and local tax at an accounting firm in Ohio. Now, she is working at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in the corporate department in New York.