Reusing the site, electrical and buildings provides the simplest alternative that repurposes components of a coal power plant in a nuclear power plant, according to the Department of Energy’s Investigating Benefits and Challenges of Converting Retiring Coal Plants into Nuclear Plants report. For more information about the benefits of the transition to nuclear, contact Christine King, GAIN Director, at [email protected] or 650-283-4235.

Reusing Sites, Electrical and Buildings

This nuclear transition project reuses the land within a former coal power plant’s boundaries in addition to some of the civil infrastructure — such as roads, office space, and communications equipment — as well as the electrical equipment and its connection to the grid.

This type of project is frequently referred to as a brownfield, which is defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a property whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may require “cleaning up” of some sort. Investing in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.

Image of the retired Grand Haven Coal Power Plant
Advanced nuclear plants could reuse the site, electrical and buildings of retired coal plants like the Sims Coal Generating Station in Grand Haven, Michigan, which was shuttered in 2020. Image by beValorous at Pixabay.
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