U.S. leadership in nuclear energy production will be doomed without government commitment

The infrastructure bill has nuclear energy advocates celebrating over plans for new nuclear reactors and production credits for existing plants. For those of us who believe that nuclear power is essential to mitigate climate change, there’s a lot to like — the bill sets aside $6 billion in funding for microreactors, small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactors with an emphasis on demonstration reactors.

But the celebration is like enjoying the view from the deck of the Titanic, post-iceberg. United States leadership in nuclear energy — powered by the success of domestic advanced reactor systems — is doomed to fail without a sustained government commitment to a robust R&D infrastructure.

An essential basic building block for that R&D is the Versatile Test Reactor. The VTR can test new types of nuclear reactors that will get ten times the energy of existing reactors and create nuclear waste that is easier to handle and isn’t hot for very long. It can also test the new fuels and materials needed to build and operate these new reactors. We simply cannot do this today.

U.S. advanced reactor developers need the VTR in order to become international standard bearers, and the U.S. needs the domestic nuclear market to succeed in order to regain global leadership we have lost.

Unfortunately, the House of Representatives, followed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, zeroed out funding for the Versatile Test Reactor project. As Congressperson Weber (TX) lamented on the House Floor, “The 2022 appropriations bill provides no funds, zero, zip, zilch, nada, to keep the Versatile Test Reactor project on budget and on schedule.”

Advanced demonstration reactors are sexy, the Kardashians of the nuclear world. The new nuclear designs are really amazing, whether it’s NuScale Power in Oregon that will build the first small modular reactor in America, Terrestrial Energy in Canada with their new Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), or even the new fusion reactor companies like Helion Energy in Redmond, CTFusion in Seattle or Canada’s General Fusion.

Some are farther along than others, but all are great designs that will change the way this planet produces power and electricity, whether it’s for power in harsh climates like the Arctic or the Sahara, to power large server farms like Google and Amazon, to support industry and desalination, or just produce clean low-carbon reliable power 24/7 for a thousand years.

The only question is — will they be ready in time to mitigate the worst of global warming? Or is our Goose cooked?

Without the infrastructure to support demonstration reactors over the long-term, we’re likely to see the first handful of advanced systems operate successfully…then not be able to make the incremental and necessary improvements that enable widespread adaptation and cost reductions.

Congress recognized that addressing the R&D gap in fast neutron testing was essential when it passed The Energy Act of 2020 last December, a bipartisan bill that presented a transformational vision for advanced nuclear energy. The Energy Act of 2020 authorized $348M for the VTR in FY22.

The need for the VTR has been supported by a range of Non-Governmental Organizations active in the energy, climate and international sphere, including the American Nuclear Society, Third Way, Clear Path, the BiPartisan Policy Institute, Clean Air Task Force, Edison Electric Institute, the Internet Technology and Information Foundation, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, the Good Energy Collective, the Partnership for Global Security and the Atlantic Council.

Each organization recognizes that the VTR is essential to sustain U.S. leadership in advanced nuclear energy.

Leadership in civilian nuclear energy has historically provided the U.S. with significant strategic influence over the political, military, and economic policies of our trading partners. Until recently, the U.S. had a strong voice in setting safety standards for civil nuclear and limiting proliferation of enrichment and reprocessing technology because U.S. companies were the suppliers of choice in the competitive global market for reactors and fuel cycle services.

Global leadership is no small thing. American leadership in civilian nuclear power led to the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which develops international nuclear safety standards, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which coordinates export control policies.

Today U.S. officials are tasked with an unenviable mission — to maintain strong international nuclear regulatory policies without having the economic and geopolitical influence that accompanies a strong export market. As U.S. influence wanes, Russia and China state-owned enterprises have been quick to take advantage.

The situation is dire but it is salvageable.

Congress needs to restore the FY22 funding for the VTR. For that to happen, we need a Congressional champion to take on the cause of U.S. leadership and say what is broadly recognized — a fast spectrum test reactor is essential for America to regain and sustain its global nuclear leadership role and support long term nuclear energy innovation for the next 60 years.