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There isn’t much common ground in America today, but a majority of Americans support nuclear power. Jason Bordoff, Ashley Finan, and Matt Bowen think America needs an “Operation Warp Speed” for nuclear power. They write in Foreign Policy magazine:
A new Pew Research Center poll finds partisan polarization among Americans at its highest level in decades. As just the latest example, House Republicans passed a budget bill without a single Democratic vote. But there is at least one issue on which both sides of the aisle can increasingly agree: The United States needs to re-embrace nuclear energy and retake its role as a global leader in nuclear power technology.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed four executive orders aimed at dramatically increasing nuclear power generation in the United States. While those orders correctly identify several areas for reform, the executive branch cannot overcome existing barriers on its own. Democrats and Republicans in Congress need to strengthen efforts to build a reinvigorated nuclear sector in the United States, as exemplified by a bipartisan bill introduced in May aimed at developing an export strategy for civilian nuclear energy.
Operationalizing a U.S. nuclear resurgence requires agreeing on an ambitious goal and working together to realize it. Just as Trump in his first term announced Operation Warp Speed to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to market, both parties should set aside partisan differences and back a Nuclear Operation Warp Speed with a target of building 20 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2035.
Nuclear energy is undergoing a resurgence. Beyond the growing recognition among environmentalists that curbing greenhouse gas emissions will be easier and cheaper if nuclear is part of the mix, there are two additional reasons for the focus on nuclear energy that have broad bipartisan support.
First, after two decades of flat electricity demand, it is set to surge in the United States in the coming years to meet the demands of data centers for artificial intelligence, in addition to the electrification of cars, heating systems, and industrial processes. According to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity demand from data centers worldwide is set to more than double by 2030. Given the need for data centers to rely on large quantities of power that runs 24/7 and 365 days per year, nuclear energy’s high reliability makes it particularly attractive.
Read more here.
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