Shortly after the Department of Energy’s
Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) concluded distributing $210 million in research grants for so-called “advanced nuclear reactors” last year, Congress signaled those grants were just the beginning, as it had approved as much as $1.5 billion for additional research.
“This legislation demonstrates growing confidence in our nation’s largest source of carbon-free energy, while building on efforts to ensure nuclear energy is properly valued alongside wind and solar in the United States’ carbon-free energy future,” said
“As urgency to address our changing climate grows, we know that investment in innovations, like next-generation nuclear reactors, will become increasingly important in meeting our climate goals,” she said. “Federal funding towards proven solutions, like nuclear energy, should continue to expand to match the challenges ahead. This will require the deployment of new nuclear designs and policies that
Investments in nuclear energy could help solve the economic and climate crises: The promise of advanced reactors can help lower carbon emissions and create new clean energy jobs.
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As the United States faces several key challenges simultaneously - COVID-19, the economic crisis, social injustice and the rising threat of climate change - the federal government is looking for solutions that help address multiple issues at once. Recent commitments by President Biden are encouraging: by tying the post-pandemic economic recovery to investments in clean energy, we can tackle all four existential crises at the same time.
During his campaign, Biden ran on a sweeping clean energy plan, pledging to achieve a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035 with net zero emissions economy-wide by 2050 as part of his all of government plan for climate. The president s proposed tech-neutral approach opens the door for an inclusive plan to combat climate change, which includes nuclear power -
More Nukes Is Good Nukes: Congress Puts $1.5 Billion Into Nuclear In Green Energy Bid
More Nukes Is Good Nukes: Congress Puts $1.5 Billion Into Nuclear In Green Energy Bid
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Fueled by year-end funding legislation and government grants awarded last year, public and private sector researchers will seek to develop an advanced new class of nuclear reactors to create carbon-free energy that will help meet climate change goals.
Shortly after the Department of Energy’s
Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) concluded distributing $210 million in research grants for so-called “advanced nuclear reactors” last year, Congress signaled those grants were just the beginning, as it had approved as much as $1.5 billion for additional research.
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America’s nuclear energy situation is a microcosm of the nation’s broader political dysfunction. We are at an impasse, and the debate around nuclear energy is highly polarized, even contemptuous. This political deadlock ensures that a widely disliked status quo carries on unabated. Depending on one’s politics, Americans are left either with outdated reactors and an unrealized potential for a high-energy but climate-friendly society, or are stuck taking care of ticking time bombs churning out another two thousand tons of unmanageable radioactive waste every year.