Patty Durand, founder of Cool Planet Solutions and past president of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative writes in The Roanoke Times that Virginia's focus on nuclear energy is misguided.
“We live in amazing times to experience the benefits of technology, not only with smartphones, computers and medicine, but especially for energy. The number of advancements in how energy is produced and delivered and stored is mind-boggling. Things like data analytics, virtual power plants and distributed energy mean the electricity grid is able to decarbonize affordably and rapidly, and it means people can be engaged in ways never before possible.”
“Instead of leaning into these exciting developments, we know from several Roanoke Times articles and essays published over the past year that Virginia’s Gov. Glenn Youngkin is proposing to build a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in Southwest Virginia as part of his Virginia Energy Plan. The plan seeks to increase nuclear energy with a stated objective to make Virginia the world’s leading nuclear innovation hub. This is unfortunate because there is nothing innovative about nuclear power.” ….
“Energy generation is complicated and people can be easily confused or manipulated about the best path forward. As someone writing from Georgia, I want to offer the people of Southwest Virginia a warning to avoid the mistakes we made building Plant Vogtle, the only nuclear power plant currently under construction in the United States.
“For example, claims were made that this new reactor technology, the AP1000, would mean Plant Vogtle would be “on time and on budget”. The design was modular and streamlined so costs would be contained, they said. But that’s not what happened. Plant Vogtle is an astonishing $35 billion and is the most expensive power plant ever built on earth.
“But what about SMRs — won’t they be different? Small modular reactors are smaller than conventional nuclear reactors, can be built in one location, and then shipped, commissioned, and operated at a separate site. Instead of a traditional 1,000-megawatt reactor, a small modular reactor is only 300 megawatts. New promises are being made about their affordability.
“It is difficult to know whether this technology will be successful since it does not actually exist, but what is certain is that there is an extensive history of corruption in the nuclear industry, most recently in Ohio where former House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading a racketeering conspiracy for a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout. This follows recent nuclear scandals in South Carolina and Illinois where utility executives and legislators went to jail or paid hundreds of millions in fines.
“Nuclear power plants have enormous costs and risks, so they can only be built outside of the competitive market that people cherish in this country. Utilities receive guaranteed profits from state authorities, and financial risks are always transferred to customers who are forced to pay huge rate increases for inevitable cost overruns.
“SMRs are already stumbling with recent news reports that costs have escalated to over $100/MWh. Meanwhile, solar and wind energy, including battery storage, is just $30/MWh, or one-third the cost. More low-cost solar was added to the grid in 2022 than any other type of generation.
“But don’t we need nuclear energy to decarbonize the power sector? Nope. There are numerous studies that model the path to a zero-carbon grid without any expansion of nuclear power, including ones from Stanford University and the highly credible RMI, a nonprofit whose mission is decarbonizing energy systems.”
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“Some people think because renewables are intermittent they require backup generation. That used to be true, but data analytics and software applications allow for very high levels of renewables, and distributed generation means energy is produced and consumed where people live.
“These are exciting times in the energy transition. Things like heat pumps, electric water heaters, smart devices, rooftop solar and EV battery storage are ways people can be involved with local energy solutions….”
Read the full opinion piece in The Roanoke Times.