The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) is developing strategic plans to create a clean energy supply chain. DoE’s plans for nuclear power are aimed at enabling continued operation of existing U.S. nuclear reactors, enable deployment of advanced nuclear reactors, develop advanced nuclear fuel cycles and maintain U.S. leadership in nuclear energy technologies.
A year ago, President Biden issued his Executive Order 14017 on America’s Supply Chain. America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition was prepared in response to the executive order. It is part of a whole government approach to revitalizing the U.S. economy and manufacturing by securing the U.S.’s most critical supply chains.
Jennifer Granholm is the U.S. Secretary of Energy. She said, “Taking bold action to invest in our supply chains means America will reap the tremendous opportunities that tackling climate change presents to kickstart domestic manufacturing and help secure our national, economic, and energy security. The strength of a nation relies on resilient and reliable critical supply chains across sectors, and DOE's report provides the key strategies and recommendations for Congress and the Federal government to act now to help deliver more jobs and a stronger, cleaner future.”
The new report contains thirteen “deep-dive” assessments on specific nuclear technologies. It crosscuts topics and focuses on key findings that will maximize opportunities to strengthen the energy supply chain and develop the country’s energy manufacturing base and workforce.
The sixty-five-page deep-dive assessment on nuclear energy was prepared by the staff at the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear, National Reactor Innovation Center and Idaho National Laboratory. The DoE issued a request in November 2021 for information and the comments they received were also used in the development of the report.
The nuclear supply chain is critical for enabling the continued operation of the U.S. existing fleet to light-water reactors as well as supporting the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies. These new reactors can provide low-carbon heat and/or electricity for facilities and processes outside the power sector along with other clean energy options for deep decarbonization. Nuclear energy also provides more local permanent jobs at a higher average wage that other energy sources.
The report said that “Although there are challenges and risks in each of these areas, implementation of targeted policies would support achievement of all the goals and would strengthen the US nuclear supply chain to meet the nation's energy, environmental, and societal needs.”
With respect to the need to deploy new advanced reactors in the near term (to the mid-2020s), the main priorities for are the establishment of secure domestic supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel required for such reactors. An additional priority is the demonstration of “innovative” reactor designs under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). Many of these advanced reactors require TRi-structural ISOtropic particle (TRISO) fuel and uranium metal fuel. None of these fuels is as yet commercially available.
This overarching strategy document includes its recommendations for developing an integrated nuclear waste disposal strategy for spent nuclear fuel. There is an initial focus on a consent-based siting process for the siting of federal facilities for temporary, consolidated storage.
A third priority is to coordinate with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to support the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors in a timely fashion. The report calls for Congressional action to amend the Nuclear WastePolicy Act and to support funding to agencies for the development and accelerated deployment of innovative nuclear energy systems.