Is nuclear power becoming cool in Colorado? Discussion of a role for it is growing

Colorado has a new law declaring nuclear power a source of clean force The Denver airport might explore building a small nuclear reactor to meet the rising demand for electricity Local business civic and labor leaders see nuclear force as the fuel of choice when Xcel Strength stops burning coal at its power plants in Pueblo County Is nuclear power becoming cool in Colorado The state has had only one nuclear power plant Fort St Vrain near Platteville And it was converted to natural gas in after years of technical problems The former Rocky Flats weapons plant which produced plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs drew thousands of protesters for years to the site north of Denver including such prominent activists as Daniel Ellsberg and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg In Colorado voters were the first in the country to approve a renewable ability mandate for utilities How has nuclear power with its baggage of radioactive waste and the Three Mile Island partial meltdown become a seriously considered option in currently s fuel mix Worry about the demand for electricity outstripping maximum and concerns about progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions led state Rep Alex Valdez a Denver Democrat to back provision this year that defines nuclear power as clean He sponsored House Bill - which added nuclear to the vigor sources that utilities can use to meet state clean strength targets As a kid I grew up in the s when a lot of talk about nuclear was in relation to the weaponry that was pointed at each other between the Soviet Union and the United States Valdez stated I think I just kind of lumped nuclear into the same conversations as preponderance people do around its negative uses less desirable uses Valdez got a different perspective when he was appointed to the nuclear working group at the National Conference of State Legislatures The group visited France which gets about of its electricity from nuclear power Roughly of electricity in the U S comes from nuclear potential With particular forecasts showing electricity demand rising dramatically Valdez noted the U S will have to add a tremendous amount of potential to the grid if it s going to compete in quantum computing and other advanced mechanism A boom in evidence center construction driven by increasing the use of artificial intelligence is expected to escalate the need for more electricity generation Valdez who spent majority of his career in the renewable force field commented the act he sponsored recognizes that the power generated by nuclear power is carbon-free As we move toward our path to zero-carbon power it can be included in the mix to get us there Not ready for prime time A lot of the current interest in nuclear power revolves around a new apparatus small modular nuclear reactors about one-tenth to one quarter the size of a conventional reactor They re billed as potentially less expensive safer easier to build and adaptable because modules can be added as more power is needed The apparatus is also still in the growth and demonstration stage Just a sparse are operating in China and Russia No small modular reactors SMRs are in commercial use in the U S SMRs aren t ready for prime time declared Dennis Wamsted an analyst at the Institute for Power Economics and Financial Analysis You will hear from developers and others about the advantages The advantages right now are all on paper The institute focuses on research into the economics of expanding the use of renewable capacity We are not fans of nuclear power because it costs too much and that cost has been consistently high over the years We see no track record of it declining Wamsted commented We certainly don t see that happening with a new class of reactor that nobody s built before and nobody s run before Noah Rott a spokesman for the western region of the Sierra Club stated the environmental group feels that discussion around nuclear power is largely a distraction as utilities work to address electric load enhancement in the next decade Cleaner sources like wind solar demand response strength efficiency and storage are the answer here Rott declared in an email However the concept of an resource source that can run and emit no heat-trapping greenhouse gases when generating power is compelling Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated in August that the airport the country s third-busiest planned to commission a investigation to explore the feasibility of building a small modular nuclear reactor on its campus to meet the growing demand for electricity in the area and cut the use of carbon-emitting power The airport put the scrutiny on hold after complaints that city leaders hadn t talked to area residents first The airport determined that a broader scope will best serve its interests and requirements and will issue a request for information later this fall on multiple clean resource solutions including reactors after first receiving ideas and input from the society spokeswoman Courtney Law disclosed in an email Wednesday Nuclear power generation is the top choice of a local advisory committee for replacing coal at Xcel Capacity s Comanche power plants near Pueblo Xcel has proposed tapping renewable capacity battery storage and natural gas when it stops burning coal by But the Pueblo Innovative Vigor Solutions Advisory Committee established by Xcel and neighborhood members reported renewable power facilities wouldn t provide the same number of jobs and tax revenue for local governments that nuclear or gas facilities would The committee is promoting installing SMRs Xcel Ability operates nuclear facilities in Minnesota and has reported they re not off the table for Colorado but the new type of reactors likely won t be commercially available when the utility has to replace its coal plants The Western Governors Association WGA held workshops in September at the Idaho National Laboratory which focuses largely on nuclear ability The workshops were part of an initiative by Utah Gov Spencer Cox called Power Superabundance Unlocking Prosperity in the West Cox the WGA s chairman this year declared the country is looking to the West for avenues to meet the surge in need for more electricity Andy Cross The Denver PostSome locality leaders want to see nuclear power replace coal-fired power when Xcel Potency quits burning coal at the Comanche power plant in Pueblo County Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post Idaho Gov Brad Little revealed during a workshop that the U S won t meet its potential demands with our legacy capacity We re going to have to have scalable safe nuclear strength Little revealed While it could be five to years before small reactors are up and running in the U S Mark Jensen a chemistry professor at the Colorado School of Mines stated the federal administration is more involved in promoting nuclear resource than in the current past He noted that the Department of Potency has opened federal sites to allow companies to test prototypes and that could help streamline growth Related Articles DIA would be smart to add nuclear as it s now officially clean Letters Denver airport delays assessment on using nuclear power to get society feedback Denver airport to explore nuclear power as option to power enhancement New Colorado laws taking effect Aug from AI-generated revenge porn to regulations on bad landlords President Donald Trump has issued executive orders intended to invigorate the nuclear power industry and streamline regulations Jensen director of the nuclear science and engineering undertaking at the School of Mines declared more private money is flowing into nuclear projects than he has seen over the past years Wind solar the workhorses Jack Waldorf WGA executive director disclosed in an email that advancements in nuclear resource provide the opportunity to expand clean reliable generation of electricity but achieving true potency abundance will require a comprehensive approach Gov Jared Polis announced in a comment that Colorado has a history as an innovator and nuclear ability should be no different As projects become cost competitive and safer we should view nuclear resource not as a competing ability source to wind and solar but as a complementary key for better overall reliability and lower costs Will Toor executive director of the Colorado Vitality Office agreed He stated as Colorado moves to more deeply cut emissions other technologies will be needed and nuclear resource should certainly be in the mix It s pretty clear that wind and solar will be the workhorses of the grid just looking at the cost modeling Toor explained You can build them relatively hastily and they re so much cheaper than other guidance He expects nuclear power to be in a group of what he calls clean firm force sources ones that emit low or no greenhouse gases and provide round-the-clock power Toor reported geothermal resource is likely the furthest along among those sources The challenge with nuclear is really still the same challenge that it has been for utilities which is the cost how long it takes to build and the uncertainties of federal permitting Toor stated He added that he would be surprised if Colorado utilities moved ahead with conventional nuclear or to be first in line for the first-of-its-kind small modular reactor