This week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) jointly announced the finalization of a Texas Advanced Nuclear Working Group report. Texas, America’s largest energy-producing state, wants to lead on advanced nuclear reactor (ANR) technology.
The report, “Deploying a World-Renowned Advanced Nuclear Industry in Texas,” argues Texas should be an ANR flagship:
Building an early, robust order book with policies to accelerate ANR projects provides necessary market signals to justify building construction, supply chain, and manufacturing capacities in Texas. Texas has leading supply chain and manufacturing capacity due in large part to local heavy industry operations from oil and gas. Pivoting existing capacity and scaling up local, specialized facilities will drive down costs, making Texas the preferred supplier for national and global ANR projects. This will further enhance Texas’ economic development through an advanced nuclear industry and making Texas the flagship for reshoring the domestic industrial base for the ANR industry.
The report described how harnessing power from advanced nuclear technology will bolster energy security and grid reliability, and lead to job growth.
“Texas is the energy capital of the world. We’re ready to be #1 in advanced nuclear power. Today, we released our plan to build that industry in Texas. By utilizing advanced nuclear energy, we’ll enhance the reliability of our state grid & provide affordable, dispatchable power,” Governor Abbott tweeted on November 19th.
Texas currently boasts two nuclear power plants, totaling 5 gigawatts (GW) that supply 10% of energy on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid.
As the Nuclear Energy Institute says, advanced nuclear reactor technology differs from existing light-water reactors (LWR) (what we view as conventional nuclear reactors) by using three different cooling sources: molten salt, liquid metal, or high-temperature gas.
Texas’ interest in nuclear energy is a major 180-degree turn from a few years ago. In my recent Policy Focus on Energy Security, I noted the course correction Texas made after its ill-fated dalliance with intermittent wind and solar power:
Texas, the nation’s top energy-producing state, also invested in intermittent wind and solar electricity generation. The state boasts nearly 52 gigawatts (GW) of electricity capacity and has installed the most wind turbines of any U.S. state—supplying 26 percent of the state’s electricity generation.
But in winter 2021, four million Lone Star State residents were left without power for several days due to rolling blackouts caused when these renewable sources failed to produce enough energy when residents needed it most. ERCOT, Texas’ primary grid operator, failed to “account for the increasing likelihood that an event combining record demand with low wind and solar generation would lead to blackouts,” wrote former Rep. Jason Isaac at the time.
Texas wanting to catalyze nuclear energy doesn’t come as a surprise. The majority of Americans—56%—want to see more nuclear power plants built, as well. They understand that this electricity source, which currently accounts for 18.6% of U.S. electricity generation today, is clean, reliable, and scalable. It’s no wonder the outgoing Biden-Harris administration announced the U.S. must triple its nuclear capabilities to deploy 200 gigawatts of net nuclear energy by the year 2050.
The private sector has equally warmed up to nuclear energy. Tech giants Amazon, Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft have tapped into nuclear power for their ambitious artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data center projects. This had led formerly skeptical investors to get in on the nuclear action—with at least 14 major financial institutions pledging investments in the future.
To learn more about America’s nuclear renaissance, go HERE.