① Due to the long approval process and highly uncontrollable construction period and costs, the US currently has no nuclear power plant projects under construction; ② In order to promote the development of nuclear energy, the US government is providing funds to support the extension of service of existing nuclear power plants, promote the deployment of new nuclear power plants, simplify the licensing process for the approval of new nuclear power plants and the expansion of existing nuclear power plants, and promote the development of supply chains such as enriched uranium.
Financial Services Association, May 30 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng) On Wednesday local time, the US White House announced a series of policies to promote the construction of the nuclear industry and deployed a special task force to study and resolve issues such as the slow progress of nuclear power plant construction and the surge in costs.
(Source: White House official website)
The White House said that nuclear energy is America's biggest source of clean energy. In 2023, 19% of America's electricity generation comes from nuclear energy, while wind energy accounts for 10% and solar energy accounts for 4%. However, due to the complicated approval process for new nuclear power plants, the US has no new nuclear power plants under construction since the two additional units at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant (Vogtle) in Georgia were put into commercial operation one after another in the past year.
This project also shows how difficult it is to build a nuclear power plant in the US. The state of Georgia approved the Vogtall nuclear power plant expansion project in 2009. The original planned cost was $14 billion, and production was put into operation in 2016 and 2017. However, in the end, Unit 3 was put into operation in July of last year, and Unit 4 was delayed until the end of April this year, doubling the cost of the entire project to 30 billion US dollars.
(These two units are also the first new nuclear power plant projects built in the US in nearly 30 years. Source: Georgia Energy)
The announcement issued by the White House on Wednesday outlined the Biden administration's various nuclear power support policies, which can be broadly divided into four areas: providing funds to support the extension of service of existing nuclear power plants, promoting the deployment of new nuclear power plants, simplifying the licensing process for approval and expansion of existing nuclear power plants, and promoting the development of supply chains such as enriched uranium.
As far as capital markets are concerned, they are naturally paying more attention to the favorable application prospects of new technology.
The White House announced that the US Department of Energy's Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstration Project (ARDP) is providing “significant funding” for a range of projects. Companies receiving government subsidies include a range of fourth-generation nuclear reactor developers and suppliers, such as Terra Energy (founded by Bill Gates) and Westinghouse Electric, an established nuclear power technology company.
Biden has also signed a congressional funding bill to provide up to $800 million in subsidies for up to two third-generation (and above) small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration projects. Details will be announced later this year.
At the same time, the Department of Defense is also funding the “Pellet Project,” which aims to develop miniature nuclear reactors for use in US military bases. The US Export-Import Bank and the US State Department launched the “SMR Financing Kit” to support the deployment of small modular reactors and support US companies to compete in the global SMR market.
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also continue to reform its licensing and approval process to simplify the licensing process for building new reactors, extending the life of existing reactors, and expanding the capacity of existing reactors, as well as simplifying the environmental review of new reactor licenses and existing reactor operation permits. At the same time, the committee said that it has determined potential regulatory solutions for the new business format of “building miniature nuclear reactors in a factory and then transporting them to the site for installation.”
Finally, news related to the nuclear supply chain is also closely related to capital markets.
Biden signed the “Prohibition of Importing Russian Uranium Act” on May 13, requiring US importers to obtain an exemption from the US Secretary of Energy before importing Russian uranium. The bill also allocates 2.72 billion US dollars to build new US enriched uranium production capacity.
Driven by relevant policies, the US Centrus Energy Corporation has successfully produced the first batch of 100 kilograms of highly concentrated low-enriched uranium (HALEU). This is also the first time that the US has produced this kind of material after a lapse of 70 years. (Note: Low-enriched uranium, or LEU, commonly used in commercial nuclear power plants, has a concentration of 3% to 5% uranium-235. In contrast, HALEU has a higher uranium-235 concentration, between 5% and 20%. Therefore, it is called “high concentration.”)
The White House expects Centrus to increase production capacity of highly concentrated low-enriched uranium to 700 kilograms within the year. Another US company, X-Energy, received a $148 million advanced energy tax credit to build a factory that produces triple concentric layer coated particles (TRISO particles).
The White House also announced on Wednesday the establishment of a nuclear power project management and delivery task force composed of federal government officials and nuclear energy industry experts to help identify opportunities to reduce costs and risk of schedule delays.