The United States has long been a leader in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and within a few years Alaska could be on the leading edge of this clean, reliable and affordable technology. The next generation of nuclear systems — known as advanced reactors — could help relieve crippling energy prices in isolated villages and provide baseload power for an array of other applications. What’s more, the technology is safer than ever before.<\/p>\n
Advanced reactors are not your grandparents’ nuclear plants. These systems use new materials, fuels, and methods to convert heat to electricity. Creative designs mean massive improvements in performance. Many are inherently safe and will never melt down. Refueling will occur even less frequently — once every couple of decades. Better systems to extract heat and generate electricity equate to higher efficiency and cheaper power.<\/p>\n
Together, these improvements are enabling the emergence of so-called “microreactors” that could be a perfect fit throughout our state. As the name suggests, these smaller reactors can be right-sized for dozens of Alaska communities and will have off-grid capability that could solve the challenge of providing clean, affordable energy in our remote areas.<\/p>\n
[Opinion: Lands package will deliver real benefits for Alaskans, all Americans] <\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n Over the past several years, I have worked with my Senate colleagues to develop a pathway for the development of these systems. We successfully passed two measures in the last Congress to bring the public and private sectors together to facilitate reactor development and streamline the approval process at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.<\/p>\n The next steps to making them a reality are contained in the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, which I recently introduced along with a bipartisan group of 16 other senators. NELA will accelerate the path to market for advanced reactors by directing the Department of Energy to demonstrate innovative concepts and allowing the federal government to be an early adopter, when and where it makes sense.<\/p>\n This is a sensible path toward cleaner energy as national and global energy demand continues to grow. Outside of hydropower, nuclear energy remains the only source, renewable or otherwise, that can feed the world’s appetite for energy with no emissions, and be a reliable and dispatchable bedrock of a lower-carbon future.<\/p>\n The emergence of advanced reactors is a bright spot in an industry that has struggled in recent years. Existing nuclear plants in the Lower 48 are aging and facing challenges that render them less competitive. Plans for new conventional reactors in the U.S. have mostly been scrapped, with only two currently under construction.<\/p>\n