Sector Spotlight: Advanced Nuclear

In this post, I will explore how the DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO) is supporting U.S. advanced nuclear energy projects.

To meet President Biden’s goals to achieve a clean grid by 2035 and reach net zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, an array of decarbonization technologies—including clean firm power like nuclear energy—will play a critical role. Advanced nuclear will become an increasingly important source of safe, reliable, and carbon-free baseload power as the nation decarbonizes its energy systems. Advanced nuclear, along with other clean firm energy sources, will help ensure there is reliable and affordable energy on a modern, decarbonized grid.

The United States will likely need 200 gigawatts of new nuclear generation by 2050 to meet national decarbonization targets. The Department highlighted the opportunities and challenges associated with the advanced nuclear sector in its Pathways to Commercial Liftoff report. U.S. domestic nuclear capacity has the potential to scale from ~100 GW in 2023 to ~300 GW by 2050, driven by the deployment of a range of advanced nuclear technologies in a range of size categories. Generation III+ (Gen III+) reactors, similar to the conventional reactors operating in the United States, and Generation IV (Gen IV) reactors, which will use novel fuels (e.g., high-assay, low-enriched uranium [HALEU] and coolants), will be needed. In addition, large reactors (~1 GW), small modular reactors (~50-300 MW), and microreactors (50 MW or less) are all expected to play a part. 

However, the risks perceived by utilities and other potential customers of construction cost overruns and project abandonment have limited committed orders for new reactors. As the Liftoff report on advanced nuclear suggests, rapid expansion of the nuclear supply chain will help us achieve our decarbonization targets and avoid supply chain overbuild. For example, a five-year delay in rapidly scaling deployment, from 2030 to 2035, would require 20+ GW per year to achieve the same 200 GW deployment by 2050 as starting to scale these technologies in 2030 and ramping to 13 GW per year by 2040. And it could result in as much as a 50% increase in the capital required to achieve our goals. 

But advanced nuclear deployment is already underway. In the last year, two Gen III+ reactors entered commercial operations at Vogtle, a project financed through LPO’s Title 17 Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program (Section 1703). The United States, Poland, and Canada recently announced plans to complete the design of the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300, a small modular reactor design. 

Advanced Nuclear Applicant Interest in LPO Programs 

Title 17 can finance a variety of projects across the nuclear supply chain, including:  

• Nuclear reactor supply chain and manufacturing   
• Small and micro nuclear reactor deployment  
• Large Gen III+ nuclear reactor deployment  
• Nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium processing and fuel enrichment, and  
• other eligible technologies. 

In addition, through the Title 17 Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program (Section 1706) as authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act, LPO can support asset and infrastructure conversion. Eligible projects include converting retired fossil fuel assets to nuclear power plants, restarting shuttered nuclear reactors, and upgrading or uprating existing nuclear reactors. 

LPO is uniquely situated to help support key parts of the advanced nuclear value chain in order to reach our decarbonization goals. As of September 30, 2024, $64.89 billion in Advanced Nuclear projects have submitted applications or are expected to submit applications in the next 120 days: $12.09 billion in Section 1703 projects and $52.8 billion in Section 1706 projects.  

For more current details, view LPO’s Monthly Application Activity Report, which explains the level of interest from applicants for LPO financing and what technology sectors have been most actively engaged with LPO.

Download a hi-res version of the graphic below here.