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“Should Indiana turn to nuclear energy to provide energy for its growing power needs?”
Should Indiana turn to nuclear energy to provide energy for its growing power needs?
The answer is yes, and the time is now.
Indiana needs to produce more energy. We need it not just for new developments like data centers and advanced manufacturing campuses but also to meet the everyday needs of Hoosier homes and businesses.
Every year, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. does an assessment of resource adequacy for all the regional transmission operators around the country, testing whether each region has the necessary production of electricity to keep the lights on.
Last year’s assessment found that our region was ranked as “high risk” for electricity shortfall. Our region (the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which covers Indiana and much of the upper Midwest) was the only region to receive that rating. “Resource additions are not keeping up with generator retirements and demand growth,” was the primary reason for this rating.
Demand is on the rise, and nuclear can meet those needs. Now is the time to act.
Under President Trump, the U.S. Department of Energy is incentivizing development and deployment of nuclear power. We need to take action quickly to take advantage of this support.
We have a leader in Gov. Mike Braun, who sees the necessity of nuclear energy and its long-term value to Indiana’s ability to grow and expand our economy. And we have a General Assembly that’s leading the nation in setting a legislative framework for nuclear energy development and innovation.
With House Bill 1007, for example, large-load customers coming to the state will bear 80% of the costs of the energy infrastructure development necessary to support their investment. This is key to the Braun administration’s focus on maintaining affordability while expanding our energy production.
Over the last three years, Indiana’s General Assembly has passed legislation supporting small modular reactor nuclear development.
As Braun said in his piece in June, SMRs present the next wave of nuclear technology, with big advancements in construction, safety and time to deployment.
Indiana also has the workforce pipeline to support the nuclear industry. With Purdue University’s nuclear engineering talent, and advanced manufacturing resources to help produce nuclear reactor parts and fuel, Indiana is uniquely positioned to lead in this space.
We expect our Nuclear Regulatory Commission Agreement State status to be complete next year, which will simplify developing nuclear power sites.
We’re taking advantage of every opportunity to build and grow Indiana’s nuclear power infrastructure. One key focus for my Department of Energy and Natural Resources is expediting site development and permitting for energy parks. We’re partnering with local communities with good sites for SMRs—such as former coal mines, power plants or technology parks—and working with those communities to develop new energy industrial parks and pre-permit these projects so they can hit the ground running.
Indiana has a great opportunity to become not only the leader in nuclear energy generation but also a home to the entire nuclear power supply chain, from workforce to manufacturing components.
For America’s nuclear energy future: The time is now, and the place is Indiana.•
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Jaworowski is Indiana’s secretary of energy and natural resources. Send comments to
[email protected].
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Actually, NERC found that MISO provided mismatched data and found, in stead of MISO being at high risk in the near term, that MISO was at elevated risk in the 2028-2031 timeframe – with resource adequacy being vulnerable to extreme weather events. In either case, SMRs wouldn’t be ready to fill the shortfall. Moreover, the SMRs likely to be available first (if at all), will use voluminous amounts of water to generate steam to run turbines that, in turn, generate electricity. As such, they would be vulnerable to drought and extreme heat.
MISO wrote:
“Following an in-depth review, NERC found that MISO submitted mismatched data, which overstated the near-term energy shortfall risk. When reanalyzed with the corrected data, the MISO footprint was reclassified as an “elevated risk” over the next few years, shifting to “high risk” in the 2028–2031 timeframe, depending on new resource additions/retirements. Elevated risk areas meet resource adequacy criteria; however, under extreme weather conditions these areas are likely to experience a shortfall in reserves.”