Thread by @JigarShahDC

What an amazing few weeks for #Nuclear Power. First, DOE launched the #NuclearLiftoff Report. Sober, well reviewed and realistic: liftoff.energy.gov/wp-content/upl…

https://twitter.com/JigarShahDC/status/1642282051041730560

The Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Advanced Nuclear report found that the U.S. will need between 550-770 GW of additional clean, firm power to complement the deployment of variable renewables in order reach net-zero by 2050.

All #CleanFirm resources come with Pluses and minuses that we try to define for the first time. Please give us feedback!

We are seeing over 85,000 union power plant workers losing their jobs over the next 10 years due to #Coal and #NG plant closures. #Nuclear is a good way to retain these jobs and the property tax revenues for the local communities.

The report explains that if new nuclear deployment starts by 2030 and annual deployment increases to 13 gigawatts (GW) by 2040, the U.S. could deploy an additional 200 GW by 2050.

We got good news on that front. @gehnuclear announced a partnership with @opg, @TVAnews, and @ORLEN_Synthos to build the first 300MW BWRX reactors by 2030 -- taking the time to do it right and leveraging the supply chains and workforce we have today. powermag.com/tva-opg-syntho…

On that front, @OPG is expecting to build 4 reactors at the Darlington site. The first one at $10K/kW, but quickly down the cost curve so that the 4th unit should be below $4K/kW. @TVANews is expecting to do the same at Clinch River.

For each new design we need a Committed orderbooks of 5-10 deployments of at least one reactor design to encourage commercial scale deployment in North America. A new project delivery model will also be needed to deliver on-time and on-budget. #Workforce, #fuel, #supplychain

We know how to do this, now we need to show the grit to see this through. Not just on #Nuclear, but also on #Geothermal, #Hydro, #LongDurationEnergyStorage, #CCS, and other #CleanFirm approaches. 500+ GWs are needed by 2050.

#Geothermal is earlier in the cycle but listen to this great podcast with @drvolts and @innerspace2030 (Jamie Beard). Gotta find $5B of private sector capital for them! pca.st/episode/293791…