NEI Nuclear Notes

Dale Atkinson Earlier this week, we published a post by NEI's Marv Fertel on why the Department of Energy needed to support development of small modular reactors . In response to that post, Dale Atkinson , an executive at Energy Northwest , left the following comment. We thought it deserved to be seen by a wider audience. Energy Northwest is a Washington state, not-for-profit joint operating agency that comprises 27 public power member utilities from across the state serving more than 1.5 million ratepayers. Public utilities in the Northwest and elsewhere are looking for a carbon or fossil fuel hedge. Nuclear generation provides that hedge, and SMR technologies incorporate lessons learned over several decades of operating similar sized U.S. Navy reactors as well as traditional sized commercial reactors. In fact, the American Public Power Association (APPA) recently passed a resolution calling for the federal government to accelerate SMR development and commercialization . W...