AI demand is intensifying the race to build advanced nuclear reactors

Dan Testa (0:04)

Hello, and welcome to Energy Evolution, the podcast where we talk through the progress and problems of the energy transition.

I'm Dan Testa. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about nuclear technology. Specifically, we'll be looking at the race among dozens of private startups and established companies, state agencies, and academic institutions to develop and commercialize an advanced nuclear reactor. It's a topic we've discussed on this podcast before, and it's worth checking in again on the state of the sector. In many ways, the competition to develop an advanced nuclear reactor is no different than any other technology, where you have investors increasingly favoring those companies that are closest to commercialization and a path to profitability. But what is different is pretty obvious. These are new designs for nuclear reactors. This technology is heavily regulated, and it faces an onerous and complicated permitting process.

Yet the demand for this tech and the power it can produce is growing. We spent a lot of time on this podcast before, and we will in the future, certainly, talking about how surging demand for electricity, driven by large load customers like data centers, has been reshaping the North American power market.

So, in light of this, consider what the impact would be if a company or other institution could produce small modular nuclear reactors, capable of producing carbon-free power at a competitive price and on a predictable schedule. And then you can begin to see why investors, tech companies and other market participants are watching the advanced nuclear space so closely. But as is always the case with nuclear, those are some pretty big ifs. Joining us to talk about these issues today will be Craig Bealmear. He's CFO of Oklo, one of the top advanced nuclear developers. And he's going to give us a view from inside the sector. He was interviewed by my colleague and Energy Evolution contributor, Abbie Bennett, who covers nuclear and who joins us now. Hey, Abbie, welcome back.

Abbie Bennett (2:13)

Thank you. Great to be back.

Dan Testa (2:15)

So maybe let's just start with refreshing our memories here collectively. The term advanced nuclear is pretty broad. What does that actually encompass?

Abbie Bennett (2:23)

Oh, that is actually a tough one because you're right, it is broad.

Dan Testa (2:28)

Yeah.

Abbie Bennett (2:29)

And different folks define it differently. I often go back to 2018 federal legislation where it was defined, at least in part, as a fission reactor with significant improvements above those operating in 2020 But advanced reactors can be cooled by light water like our existing fleet. They can also be cooled by molten salt, high temperature gas, or liquid metal. They can also be fueled by low enriched uranium like the existing fleet, or advanced fuels like high assay, low enriched uranium, metal fuel, or liquid fuel. They can be gigawatt sized like conventional reactors, but they can also be much, much smaller like our small modular reactor designs or even micro reactors.

S&P Global Analysts track more than 120 advanced reactor designs from about 90 developers, and many are categorized as SMRs with a capacity of about 300 megawatts or less.

Dan Testa (3:33)

Okay. Then taking a high level view of the advanced nuclear sector, I mean, where do things stand right now in terms of development?

Abbie Bennett (3:41)

Well, we've seen a lot of progress and evolving sentiment in the last few years for nuclear, particularly since Georgia Power's Vogel Units 3 and 4 were brought online. Energy security concerns have increased, and also demand signals have changed all within that timeframe. But none of these advanced designs that we're talking about have commercialized in the US so far, and that's a key milestone. Some designs have reached what's referred to as initial criticality, but none are delivering electrons to the broader grid yet. The experts I spoke to believe that many development timelines, several in the 2030s, are still ambitious without significant acceleration in permitting or construction.

But investment is continuing to grow for these companies, so there is a lot of interest and support.

Dan Testa (4:36)

Earlier this year, I interviewed Nicole Butcher. She's CEO of Ontario Power Generation on the Darlington project there. What's the significance of that?

Abbie Bennett (4:45)

I'm so glad you brought that one up, because a lot of folks believe that that project is maybe the most important SMR project in the world. GE Hitachi Nuclear is leading the advanced nuclear race with Ontario Power Generation's Darlington project. It's the first project of its kind to begin construction among G7 countries and could be the first to commercialize in North America. How that project goes stands to dramatically shift the SMR landscape. Here in the US, the Tennessee Valley Authority is exploring use of that same BWRX 300 reactor design used in the Darlington project for its own Clinch River project. It's already secured significant federal funding, though it is in much earlier stages than Darlington.