Nuclear Plants to Get $6 Billion Lifeline in Infrastructure Deal – by Ari Natter and Will Wade (Bloomberg News – August 2, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Struggling nuclear power reactors would get a $6 billion lifeline under the bipartisan infrastructure bill heading for a vote in the U.S. Senate — a move supported by the Biden administration, but opposed by some environmentalists.

A program to evaluate nuclear reactors that are at risk of being shut down and provide them with aid would be created within the Energy Department under terms of the $550 billion, bipartisan infrastructure package.

The senators negotiating the package completed the text Sunday, moving the chamber a crucial step closer to likely passage this week. Final congressional action won’t come until after the House returns from a recess in September.

The proposed aid for nuclear power, which provides about 19% of the nation’s electricity, comes as the industry has undergone a wave of closures. Reactors have high operating costs and are increasingly struggling to compete with cheaper electricity produced using natural gas and renewables.

The assistance could be a boon for operators such as Southern Co. and Exelon Corp., as well as for uranium miners like Lakewood, Colorado-based Energy Fuels, Inc. Nuclear reactors that use domestically mined and enriched uranium would be given priority under the proposed program.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/nuclear-plants-to-get-6-billion-lifeline-in-infrastructure-deal-1.1635706