Biden's Effort To Save Distressed Nuclear Plants

Cooper Nuclear Power Plant (Getty Images)

(KFOR NEWS April 20, 2022) WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration is launching a $6 billion effort to rescue nuclear power plants at risk of closing, citing the need to continue nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power that helps to combat climate change.

A certification and bidding process opened Tuesday for a civil nuclear credit program that is intended to bail out financially distressed owners or operators of nuclear power reactors.

It’s the largest federal investment in saving financially distressed nuclear reactors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The first round of awards will prioritize reactors that have already announced plans to close. A dozen U.S. reactors closed in the past decade before their licenses expired.

Nebraska has a single nuclear power plant…the Cooper Nuclear Station at Brownville. NPPD operates the largest, single-unit electrical generator in the state, generating 820 megawatts of electricity, enough power to supply more than 310,000 residential customers during the hottest summer. In late November 2010, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed the plant’s license for 20 more years, through January 18, 2034.

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, in 2020, 19% of Nebraska’s power came from nuclear generation, 55% came from coal, 20% from wind and the rest from hydro and natural gas.