In 2025, big investment money is going to nuclear power to offset the loss of reliable electricity from coal and natural gas-fired power plants. Those plants are closing to curb “greenhouse gas” emissions at a time when demand is skyrocketing.

The Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee cites the rapid expansion of data centers as a driver in increased electricity use. Large data centers, an increase in high-tech manufacturing and growing electrification in homes, buildings and transportation are straining power generating and transmission capacity. Increased demand for charging electric vehicles is projected to account for about 4% of total electricity demand in western states by 2034.

Small modular reactors

For example, Amazon has become the “biggest investor” in Energy Northwest’s four small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to land near the Columbia Generating Station by the Hanford site. It allocated $334 million to fund a facility which has a 320-megawatt output – enough to electrify 320,000 homes.

Amazon’s investment will give it “first access” to any power produced at the site. It is the electricity required to run its Pacific Northwest data centers. 

The International Energy Agency expects artificial intelligence energy consumption to balloon tenfold by 2026. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency mining will grow by 30%.

Heading into 2025, Northwest electricity demand is expected to grow more by a third in the next decade, triple the prediction from three years ago. That growth is attracting big investments.

If Washingtonians, who already procure over 70% of their electricity from hydropower, are to be completely devoid of fossil fuel generation by 2045, they must have new nuclear generation and retain today’s hydro capacity.

Keep dams off table

More specifically, breaching the four lower Snake River dams should be off the table. It would require the equivalent of three large nuclear plants to replace the lost power if they are torn down and their powerhouses are razed.

Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act leans heavily on renewable fuels, particularly wind and solar. It calls for electrical generation to be completely free from emitting greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide. Nuclear was ignored. However, newer nuclear technologies can play a key role in the years ahead.

Without nuclear power, it will be impossible to wean ourselves from fossil fuels. Nuclear power does not rely on sunshine or wind. Nor does it require augmentation by large battery systems, such as those currently under development. Like hydropower, it is reliable base-load power on demand at any time.

A question of safety

A big question is safety. The U.S. Navy initiated its nuclear propulsion program in 1948. Since 1975, all submarines and supercarriers have been powered by nuclear reactors.

Like the Navy, the new land-based nuclear technology is smaller than utility-scaled nuclear power plants. The advanced small modular nuclear reactor was developed at Oregon State University and spun out to NuScale. Its SMR is being developed at Idaho’s National Laboratory near Idaho Falls.

To make the reactors safer, Jose Reyes, a nuclear engineer and co-founder of NuScale, told Science Magazine they have simplified the design and made them impervious to meltdown. They will be factory built and moved to the site, which could be where a demolished plant was located.

SMR takes 1% of the space of a conventional reactor and each one produces 60 megawatts of power.  When stacked together, the 12 would perform as one. Unlike a large nuclear plant, the individual units can be taken offline, refueled or repaired.

Staff from Energy Northwest are scheduled to operate the Idaho facility and the utility is considering locating others near the Hanford nuclear site. Future design under consideration would generate 720 megawatts, which is half of the Columbia Generating Station’s output.

While SMRs have a long road ahead, the latest demand projections are accelerating development. New nuclear technology is coming with sizable investments. That’s good news because without nuclear, prospects for providing greenhouse gas free electricity are highly unlikely. 

Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He is a former president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s oldest and largest business organization, and lives in Vancouver. Contact [email protected].