In 2020, the Arizona utility Salt River Project (SRP) announced its plans to cease coal generation at the Coronado Generating Station by 2032. This decision is set to have a profound impact not only on the power grid but also on the entire community of St. Johns, Arizona.
“It’s GAIN’s job to help answer questions by providing unbiased, factual information to communities,” said Christine King, GAIN director. “Nuclear energy may not be the answer in all instances, but we can pull expertise from around the nation’s national labs to serve as a trusted resource.”
A study by the U.S. Department of Energy involving national laboratories identified 157 retired coal plant sites and 237 operating coal plants sites as potential candidates for the coal-to-nuclear transition.
Christine King, the Department of Energy’s director of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear previously told the Deseret News the research showed that the most valuable connection in the site analysis was connection to the grid, the transmission, existing substations and even the administration buildings.
The study conducted by The Idaho National Laboratory’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program highlighted significant regional economic and workforce benefits from transitioning the Coronado power plant to nuclear energy. GAIN compared the potential regional economic outcomes of allowing the existing plant to retire versus repowering it.
October 2024 – Researchers are engaging directly with communities to learn more about local opinions and how to build social and cultural metrics into their energy-planning analysis. That’s work that’s also being done at ORNL, where the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) works with individual sites and utilities to run economic analyses and provide decision-making resources.
September 11, 2024 – Many states have turned to GAIN as a resource to guide them through technical and regulatory steps for potential nuclear deployment. In many coal-dependent communities, the loss of a major employer can be devastating. Take Eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian Region.
As the United States continues its rush to shutter the nation’s remaining coal plants, energy analysts are debating what should fill the gap to meet the growing need for electricity. Increasingly, many are pointing to nuclear energy as the solution.
Two Cheyenne-based companies have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy to work on advanced nuclear technologies.
After screening recently retired and active coal plant sites, a study by the U.S. Department of Energy involving the national labs identified 157 retired coal plant sites and 237 operating coal plants sites as potential candidates for the coal to nuclear transition.
Concrete plans to replace coal-fired plants with small modular reactors (SMRs) reveal a clear path to nth-of-a-kind deployment, say developers and researchers.