Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
The Deep Fission’s federal filing last month said it plans to construct its first reactor sites at locations “with existing industrial use and limited environmental sensitivity.” Its goal is to satisfy the requirements to qualify for a streamlined environmental regulatory process or exemptions.
Since President Trump wants to see three reactors up and running by the Fourth of July, DF was asked whether this is the timeline for its work in Kansas. The company said it is aiming for that date at one of its sites, but would not say whether this refers to the Kansas location.
TerraPower, the other nuclear company considering Kansas, was co-founded by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. This summer it broke ground on a four-billion-dollar nuclear facility in Wyoming as a demonstration project that is co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
TerraPower’s technology consists of immersing uranium in liquid sodium instead of water. This cooling liquid has a far higher boiling point, which the company says adds to the reactor’s safety. The company’s design also would also allow for turning the plant’s power output up and down. That ability appeals to utility companies.
This would make it possible to adjust to the ebb and flow of electricity demand and to adapt to the sunny and windy days when solar and wind farms churn out lots of power. Traditional nuclear power plants with conventional reactors, such as Evergy’s Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station, cannot do that.
TerraPower’s goal in Kansas is to explore the prospects for a utility-scale advanced nuclear facility, search for appropriate reactor sites and gauge the interest of those communities in hosting such a facility. The company is looking for sites on the Kansas side of Evergy’s two-state service area, which would mean somewhere in eastern or central Kansas.
Advanced nuclear power and small modular reactors (SMRs) represent a new chapter in U.S. nuclear energy that remains largely in the design and testing phases. These next-generation reactor designs are meant to address key challenges with nuclear power plants, including the fact that traditional facilities are so large and complex to build. Companies working on the newer designs claim that these will be safe yet faster to build. This claim has received support from both Democrats and Republicans at the federal level, including both the Biden and Trump administrations.
NucNet, an independent news outlet covering the nuclear industry, reports that state governments are interested, too.
Several states are considering legislation or incentives for advanced nuclear technology. This includes Kansas’ neighbor, Oklahoma, which passed a law this year directing its utility and energy regulatory body, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, to explore the prospects for nuclear power.
Kansas currently has one conventional nuclear power plant, Wolf Creek, about sixty miles south of Topeka. The Wolf Creek plant generates about one-fifth of the state’s electricity.
Although nuclear power facilities don’t generate carbon emissions, the idea of deploying more nuclear power is already meeting with tough questions from Kansas-based clean energy advocates that have lobbied for years to increase the state’s wind and solar power.
They’re concerned that nuclear energy is too expensive, and Evergy’s rates continue to rise. The groups argue that Kansas needs to provide more affordable, clean energy because many low-income households are already struggling to pay their utility bills and climate change is predicted to bring worse summer heat waves.