Delivery of affordable, abundant, reliable, clean, and emissions-free electricity to customers is very important to modern quality of life. Achieving this is threatened by a vulnerable grid and the intermittency of wind and solar electricity generation methods. To meet the coming power supply crisis for the demands of datacenters and AI, it’s time to stimulate conversations about electricity generation to meet the needs of the end users.
The nuclear power systems developed for the Navy have functioned well for five decades. All commissioned U.S. Navy submarines and supercarriers built since 1975 are nuclear powered. Other military services are now getting on board. If such a profoundly reliable and resilient system for the generation of emissions free electricity that is continuous and interruptible can be extended to the commercial power market, it would allow a variety of suppliers to compete for the business of the end user, allowing greatly reduced electricity prices.
Today, about 440 nuclear power reactors are in operation in 32 countries and Taiwan, with 62 new reactors under construction. As of August 1, 2023, the United States had 54 nuclear power plants with 93 operating commercial nuclear reactors in 28 states. These plants generate about 20% of the country’s electricity. Nuclear power has the competitive advantage of being the only baseload power source that can accommodate the desired expansion of a clean electricity supply to the end users that is emission free, continuous, and uninterruptible.
Next generation reactors........