Nuclear renaissance in the United States

rdf:langString Nuclear renaissance in the United States

rdf:langString Between 2007 and 2009, 13 companies applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for construction and operating licenses to build 31 new nuclear power reactors in the United States. However, the case for widespread nuclear plant construction has been hampered due to inexpensive natural gas, slow electricity demand growth in a weak US economy, lack of financing, and safety concerns following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Most of the proposed 31 reactors have been canceled, and as of August 2017 only two reactors are under construction. In 2013, four reactors were permanently closed: San Onofre 2 and 3 in California following equipment problems, Crystal River 3 in Florida, and Kewaunee in Wisconsin. Vermont Yankee, in Vernon, was closed on Dec. 29, 2014. In March 2017, the last remaining U.S.-based new nuclear company, Westinghouse Electric Company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of US$9 billion of losses from its U.S. nuclear construction projects. Later that year construction of two reactors of their AP1000 design at V.C. Summer was canceled due to delays and cost overruns raising questions about the future of the two remaining US reactors under construction, since these are also of the AP1000 design. As of 2021, the private sector focus has shifted toward the development of small modular reactors (SMRs), which could theoretically cut down on the high costs and lengthy construction times of conventional nuclear plants. NuScale Power is the only company thus far to have been granted regulatory approval for an SMR design from the NRC, however. Both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden have proposed or helped pass legislation that would increase subsidies for new and existing nuclear plants.