Nuclear energy is undergoing a new wave of popularity as a carbon-neutral energy source in this era of energy-intensive data centers and artificial intelligence, according to former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair Chris Hanson.
“Public support for nuclear hasn’t been this high in decades, or maybe forever,” he said.
“There’s a big interest in nuclear in order to meet what could be a really big spike in need for electricity in the next few years,” Hanson said.
Hanson, a 1993 Valparaiso University graduate, spoke Nov. 6 during a lifelong learning webinar sponsored by the VU Career and Alumni Network.
“There’s just a huge growth of interest in nuclear power in, say, the last five years,” he said. Fueling that demand are not just AI and data centers but also the proliferation of electric vehicles and the move away from natural gas and coal.
Another driver is grid stability. Wind and solar are intermittent, so utilities are pairing those with base load generation even while installing battery power, Hanson said.
“Nuclear power plants, they’re generating electricity 90% of the time,” providing about 50% of carbon-free electricity generated in the United States, he said. That’s 19% of the nation’s electricity.
Illinois is by far the biggest state for nuclear power, followed by Pennsylvania, with some other states lagging far behind.
States with decarbonization goals, including New York’s goal of doing so by 2040, boost demand for nuclear energy as well, Hanson said.
Innovation and advances in the industry are boosting nuclear energy’s prospects for the future, he said.
“There’s been great strides in just even the last 10 years in this space,” Hanson said. “There’s a lot of smart thinking and smart startups out there.”
A new Indiana law authored by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, provides incentives for small modular nuclear reactors to be built in Indiana as utilities like NIPSCO shift from burning coal to create greener electricity.
“There is that appetite for new designs, certainly, out there,” Hanson said.
Among the ideas being discussed in the industry is development of micro reactors that fit on the back of a truck for emergency response, where a disaster has knocked out power.
Data centers, which are notorious energy hogs, could also benefit from small reactors.
“I think there’s a lot of creativity going on,” Hanson said.
But a resurgence of nuclear reactors can’t happen overnight. It will take money to make it happen, including building the supply chain for parts and a trained workforce.
“I’m not optimistic that it’s going to happen as fast as some people want it to,” Hanson said.
Are big reactors or little reactors needed most? “That is a great question. I would say both,” Hanson said.
A large data center can demand 500 megawatts of power. That’s half the capacity of a full-sized nuclear reactor, he said.
Hanson acknowledged the nuclear power industry has challenges to overcome.
Uranium sourcing is one of them.
“The United States does not produce a lot of uranium anymore,” he said. It did during the Cold War, but that ravaged the landscape. There are 523 abandoned mines on the Navajo Nation land alone, contaminating the water and contributing to radon, among other environmental issues. “Certainly, modern methods have gotten a lot better.”
“The highest-quality reserves in the world are up in Canada, in Saskatchewan,” Hanson said. Australia and Kazakhstan are significant sources, too. Historically, 20% came from Russia, but the U.S. has cut back on Russian uranium.
Then, too, there’s a finite amount of uranium in the world, unlike wind and solar energy.
Long-term disposal is also unresolved.
“Spent fuel is stored safely at reactor sites and decommissioned sites across the United States,” which is safe but not a long-term solution, Hanson said.
“I think countries can do it. I think it is primarily a political and policy challenge. I’m not sure it is a technological one,” he said.
“I think we made some steps in the U.S.,” Hanson said. The Yucca Mountain project to store spent fuel deep underground was abandoned about 15 years ago.
“Ideas like recycling are back on the table,” he said, since rods containing uranium pellets have a life expectancy of about three to four years, but that requires minimizing nuclear proliferation risks and protecting environmental risks. Uranium found in nature needs to be enriched using centrifuges, but not to the extent that weapons-grade uranium is enriched.
The nuclear industry needs all kinds of skills for a strong workforce, Hanson said. “It’s all kinds of engineers, but it’s all kinds of scientists, too.” Specialists in geology, seismology and volcanology are needed. People who can translate technical info for ordinary people are also valued.
“I think it’s a growth area. It doesn’t necessarily compete with video games, with fusion or with a mission to Mars,” but it can be a good field to go into, Hanson said.
Another challenge is finding feasible uses for waste heat from reactors. In light water reactors, the kind that dominates the industry in the United States, a reactor generates about 3,000 megawatts of thermal energy – heat – for every 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
“If you think about it, it’s kind of one-third efficient,” Hanson said. Newer units are more efficient, like 40% to 45%
In LaSalle, that excess heat is being coupled with hydrogen production. “It can be done with the waste heat, but it’s also kind of hard to do,” given the closed-loop process used for nuclear reactors. “There are a lot of ideas out there,” Hanson said.
Approval of a new nuclear reactor has historically taken years and years. “It doesn’t take as long as it used to,” he said.
His pro tip is to socialize with the regulator and get pre-approval, particularly for new technology. That way, when the company goes in for the full application, it has a really high-quality product.
“The process has gotten much faster. Standardization has also really helped,” Hanson said.
“I absolutely remain optimistic,” he said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
