Task force weighs small- to large-scale nuclear capacity

Members of the Delaware Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force heard an update Dec. 1 on what other states are doing regarding nuclear energy as the group investigates how small and large nuclear reactors could impact the state’s energy needs.

Thomas Webler, part of the Social and Environmental Research Institute, gave a broad overview, looking at risks and benefits of nuclear energy, but also provided recent updates on the small nuclear reactor industry, mostly occurring in Western states.

“You pretty much open any newspaper and you’ll find states very interested in pursuing this technology,” he said. “I’d say there are a lot of parties out there eager to move ahead.”

In Wyoming, Bill Gates is working on his TerraPower units, and another company, Radiant Technologies, was trying to build micro-reactors in a Wyoming town, Webler said, but the community eventually voted against the company and its technology.

Idaho is home to the Idaho National Laboratory, where companies such as OKLO and NuScale are working to create the first operating small modular reactors. 

Utah had been interested in buying power from NuScale SMRs built in Idaho, Webler said, but the state ended up canceling the order over the cost. NuScale has now changed its design in favor of a model larger than the 77-megawatt unit that had received federal approval.

Kimberly Schlichting, president of Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, said she has followed Utah’s progress with obtaining SMRs, and officials involved had spoken about government requirements placed on the project that made it cost prohibitive.

Webler said the federal government is the only regulator for nuclear energy, but states and local municipalities can make rules on water use, land zoning or site approval for substations related to the nuclear project.

And while acknowledging the interest in small-scale nuclear energy, Webler questioned whether large-scale reactors – similar to the reactors across the Delaware River in Salem, N.J. – should be a larger part of the discussion.

Robert DeNight, vice president of nuclear engineering at Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said the overnight cost of capital to build a large-scale nuclear reactor is less than an SMR, and the large-scale unit produces more electricity, such as Westinghouse’s AP1000 large-scale reactor. The federal government is also pushing for construction of large-scale reactors, he said. 

“That’s why you’re hearing more now associated with AP1000s than we’re hearing with small modular reactors that we were hearing a year ago,” DeNight said. 

Task member Anthony DePrima said the group should look at both large and small reactors, but the focus should be on the state’s response to nuclear energy, which ultimately will be determined by the federal government and private market.

“Delaware’s not going to buy one of these things. No state is,” he said. “So I would like us to focus on what Delaware could do to get out of the way, or maybe get in the way because we don’t want nuclear in this state, and what are the actions that have to be taken.”

Task force member Martin Willis said something needs to be done to bring more power to Delaware, and the group should be thinking on a large scale.

“Why not think gigawatts?” he said. “Megawatts is a decade ago. If we want to achieve even a 50% net-zero [greenhouse gas] reduction in our electricity production, Delaware is going to have to build 4 GW of nuclear power."

The urgency is already here, Willis said, “It’s just a matter of time.”

DEMEC’s Schlichting said she still wants to see the state look into SMRs, but she acknowledged the state needs to look into a transitional power generation such as natural gas.

“We do need the dispatchable generation because we are already falling behind,” she said.

The next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, and the group discussed compiling an activities report, since they will not have a full report completed by the Dec. 31 deadline set in the original legislation that created the task force.