Nuclear energy already plays a pivotal role in powering some of the largest economies in the U.S., including Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas, and it could be the key to offsetting a rapidly increasing demand for electricity across the country, according to researchers at Penn State.
In the following Q&A, Professor of Practice of Nuclear Engineering Matthew Zerphy and Professor of Energy Policy and Economics Seth Blumsack discuss nuclear energy's advantages, how it's slated to develop over the next few years and how it could be the solution to the demand problems facing power grids across the country. Zerphy is also the assistant dean for operations in the Penn State College of Engineering, and Blumsack is also the co-director of the University's Center for Energy Law and Policy, as well as a professor of international affairs.
Q: What is nuclear energy? What advantages does it offer compared to other forms of energy production?
Zerphy: Nuclear energy is a clean, low-carbon source of power that can operate at large scale. Nuclear plants are among the safest and most reliable forms of energy production. They have a distinct advantage in that they operate at full power nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, often for decades at a time with only minimal, planned downtimes for refueling. That level of reliability is unmatched by other clean energy sources like solar and wind, which are inherently intermittent.
Although nuclear energy produces radioactive waste that must be managed over the long term, when compared to other energy sources, the total waste volume is very small relative to the energy produced. What's more, the environmental footprint is significantly lower than fossil fuels, particularly with respect to carbon emissions and air pollution. Beyond just energy production, nuclear energy is key to a broader strategy of economic development, technological leadership and national security across the country.
Q: How is nuclear energy integrated into the United States' power grid today?
Blumsack: Around 20% of all electricity produced in the U.S. comes from nuclear power plants, which are collectively the largest source of low-carbon electricity in the country and the second largest source of electricity generation. Despite this, nuclear energy is not used everywhere in the country - the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest get a larger share of their electricity from nuclear energy compared to the rest of the country.
Q: What role could nuclear energy play in improving grid reliability and stability in the face of increasing electricity use across the U.S.?
Blumsack: The U.S. does not have a national utility company, nor does it have a single regulator for the entire electric utility sector, so although there is some level of federal oversight of the grid, different states make their own rules. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, are much more market-oriented, meaning the role of nuclear energy is going to depend on how well it can compete with other power plant technologies. The Southeast and the Western U.S. rely on a lot of regulation, where the role of nuclear energy is going to depend a lot on what technologies utilities and their state regulators would like to see on the power grid.
The grid needs power plant technologies that can reliably supply electricity around the clock to support the rising demand we are observing. The grid also increasingly needs flexibility - the ability to rapidly balance quick changes in supply or demand - driven in part by the growth in wind and solar generation, whose output varies with the weather, and by changes in electricity demand from electric vehicles and other new sources. In concept, nuclear energy could help meet both future needs. Smaller nuclear plants in particular may be better able to adjust quickly to fluctuations in wind, solar or electricity demand. Small modular reactors and other next-generation forms of nuclear power plant technology could offer a much more affordable and compact power generation option, but none of these technologies are currently providing electricity to the U.S. power grid.
Nuclear could also be used to provide reliable electricity to very remote areas. Alaska is a good example of this - we think of Alaska as a big oil state, but it has some of the highest fuel prices in the U.S., which really impacts the remote communities in the state. This is an area where markets and regulations might align, meaning there is an economic incentive to find remote energy solutions other than oil, and deploying those solutions will require a new regulatory framework.
Q: How do you see nuclear energy developing and changing over the next decade? How is Penn State contributing to the future of the industry?
Zerphy: For decades, demand in the U.S. grew slowly and predictably. The emergence of large-scale data centers supporting artificial intelligence, along with broader trends is creating an unprecedented increase in demand for reliable, always-on power, which is something nuclear energy is uniquely positioned to provide. To meet this demand, we must rapidly improve our workforce development programs. Expanding nuclear capacity requires training not just engineers, but operators, tradespeople, project managers, cybersecurity specialists and more to design, build and operate these complex systems.
The next generation of nuclear systems will rely on advanced digital instrumentation and control systems, including remote monitoring and more autonomous systems. The U.S. has an opportunity to lead globally in building and exporting advanced nuclear technologies, but to ensure the secure operation of these highly digital, networked nuclear systems, a new class of expertise at the intersection of nuclear engineering and cybersecurity must be developed. At Penn State, we are developing education offerings to support students and working professionals. That's a major focus of my work at Penn State and an area where we are helping lead nationally and internationally.
Q: Some companies have suggested using nuclear energy to fuel energy-intensive facilities like data centers. What are the possible benefits or downsides?
Blumsack: There are already some examples of this happening. Microsoft is supporting the restart of a shuttered nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania to provide enough electricity to the grid for its data centers to use. Other data center developers have proposed on-site small module reactors that can provide sufficient reliable and low-carbon electricity for data centers, without relying as much on the power grid to supply that electricity. In concept, small module reactors would be good candidates for on-site data center power if the nuclear industry can demonstrate that they can be built economically and run in a safe and efficient manner.
While there has been a lot of progress both in the small reactor technology and the regulatory framework to approve it, we aren't really at the implementation stage yet. In some areas of the U.S., nuclear energy also faces some public opposition, so although the industry is well capitalized and poised to grow, it will take quite a bit of work and investment for nuclear energy to be a major source of on-site power for data centers.
