Western Cities Go Nuclear

NuScale's plan to build the first small modular nuclear power reactor in the US has gotten a big boost from a consortium of western cities.

NuScale is going to build a demonstration SMR power plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. “If successful, the six-reactor, 462 megawatt Carbon Free Power Project will run in 2030,” reports Reuters. “NuScale said in January the target price for power from the plant is $89 per megawatt hour, up 53% from the previous estimate of $58 per MWh, a jump that raised concerns about whether customers would be willing to pay for the power it generates.”

Regardless, the consortium of cities in Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, and Nevada that make up Utah Associated Municipal Powers Systems have greenlighted the project's budget and finance plan with an overwhelming majority.

"The project will support our decarbonization efforts, complement and enable more renewable energy, and keep the grid stable," Mason Baker, the UAMPS chief executive and general manager, said. "It will produce steady, carbon-free energy for 40 years or longer.”

The project’s next step, an application to construct and operate the plant, is expected to be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission early 2024. The Department of Energy has approved $1.35 billion over ten years for the project, subject to congressional appropriations.

X-energy and Dow Change SMR Site

X-energy originally planned to demonstrate its four-unit 320-MWe Xe-100 advanced nuclear reactor facility in Washington State, but now the facility will be rolled out at a Dow site in the U.S. Gulf Coast region.

“The shakeup stems from a joint development agreement (JDA) the nuclear reactor and fuel technology firm signed with Dow on March 1, as well as a change by the DOE to make Dow ‘a subawardee’ under X-energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Cooperative Agreement,” reports Power.

X-energy expects to complete the project by the end of the decade. The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) project will become the first grid-scale advanced reactor at an industrial site in North America. Dow says that its partnership with X-energy will help it “deliver a 30% reduction in scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions since 2005 by 2030, on its path to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.”

America’s Famine of Electricians

America wants to electrify everything, but it’s missing a vital ingredient: electricians.

Electricians are needed to install electric-car chargers, heat pumps, and other gear necessary for electrification. This scarcity is part of a nationwide labor shortage and is most acute in the New England and California, where demand for green-energy products is highest, partly due to state incentives.

“The current total of more than 700,000 electricians in the U.S. is expected to grow about 7% over the next decade, slightly faster than the nationwide average of 5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “The median age of electricians is over 40 years old, in line with the broader workforce. But nearly 30% of union electricians are between ages 50 and 70 and close to retirement, up from 22% in 2005, according to the National Electrical Contractors Association. The average annual electrician salary rose from roughly $50,000 to about $60,000 from 2018 to 2022, an increase roughly in line with the national average, according to the BLS.”

However, this expansion needs to be several times faster for the US to meet its electrification goals. Industry analysts believe the country will struggle to grow the workforce to keep up because more electricians retire every year, many retired during Covid, and few replacements are coming in.

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Conversation Starters

1. Saudi Aramco is eyeing a foreign LNG port. “Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is considering an investment in a liquefied natural gas facility outside the kingdom, as global demand for the fuel soars following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” reports Bloomberg. “The state energy company is in early discussions with LNG plant developers to procure a stake and secure supplies through an off-take agreement, according to people with knowledge of the matter. LNG consumption is set to surge in the coming years as Europe rushes to replace piped gas from Russia and with nations such as China and India expected to increase imports. The value of global LNG trade doubled last year to more than $450 billion, according to the International Energy Agency.”

2. Germany paid through the nose for natural gas last year. “Germany paid more than double for natural gas last year compared to 2021 amid soaring prices in the energy crisis despite a 30% decline in import volumes, according to data from the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control, BAFA. Germany paid as much as $79 billion (74 billion euros) for natural gas imports, more than double compared to the $37.8 billion (35.4 billion euros) it spent on importing gas in 2021,” reports Oilprice.com. “In 2022, the average price Germany paid at the border surged by 197.3% to $22,440 (21,007 euros) per terajoule (TJ).”

3. Simple cycle gas turbines ran at record levels last summer. “The average monthly capacity factor for simple-cycle, natural gas turbine (SCGT) power plants in the United States has grown annually since 2020. Average capacity factors surpassed 20% for two consecutive summer months in 2022—the first time on record—to meet peak electricity demand,” reports the Energy Information Administration. “An estimated 2,121 megawatts (MW) of new SCGT capacity entered service in 2021, and we expect another 1,196 MW entered service in 2022. Texas accounted for nearly half of the 2021 and 2022 capacity additions because of its need for more fast-starting generating capacity. Texas is experiencing both rising power demand and greater variability in supply.”

Nuclear Barbarians: Wind and Other Woes ft. Doomberg

Doomberg, one of the best and most popular Substackers in the world, joined me to talk about the problems besetting the so-called energy transition, political decadence, and our quantum-pilled energy future.

Crom’s Blessing