Utility Firm Considers Switching Coal Facilities into Nuclear Plants

Coal’s contribution to human civilization cannot be understated. It was first used for heating and cooking before fueling the Industrial Revolution. However, centuries after man began using coal, it has become abundantly clear that the fuel has a significant impact on the environment.

Decades of burning coal have filled the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and caused the planet to heat up. We are already seeing the impact of this global warming, with some regions of the world experiencing constant droughts and other extreme weather events such as wildfires, extremely low temperatures and flooding.

As such, there has been a global push for countries to move away from coal to other cleaner sources of energy, including solar and wind. Utility Firm PacifiCorp is looking to switch some of its coal-powered plants to nuclear energy as part of efforts to meet its climate goals. Currently one of the largest utilities in the western United States, PacifiCorp recently announced that it had partnered with nuclear developer TerraPower to launch a feasibility study. The main goal of the study will be to determine if the utility firm can equip up to 5 of its coal-fired power plants with advanced nuclear reactors.

This isn’t the first venture between the two companies. Last year, they partnered to build a 345-megawatt Natrium nuclear reactor in western Wyoming at a retiring coal plant. PacifiCorp has been forced to tread a fine line in the past to please its Wyoming customers who want coal-fired plants in their state to remain open, as well as customers in Washington who have more progressive climate goals.

Turning to nuclear energy may allow PacifiCorp to please both types of customers by ditching coal for a cleaner source of energy while still providing employment opportunities and zero-carbon electricity.

However, switching to nuclear energy will be anything but easy. For instance, the site for the two companies’ first reactor is yet to receive design approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Furthermore, the reactor is projected to cost a whopping $4 billion to construct, and it is unclear how these costs will be covered.

University of Wyoming professor Robert Godby says PacifiCorp will also have to deal with the political challenge of convincing its diverse group of stakeholders to support the switch to nuclear energy. Even so, Godby said that there has been a notable increase in support for nuclear energy.

Republican Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has supported the plan to convert the coal plant in Kemmerer to a nuclear reactor, and Godby believes many people in Wyoming are considering the benefits of nuclear energy.

That said, coal is still very much on high demand due to the crunch being experienced in the energy sector. Consequently, entities such as Arch Resources Inc. (NYSE: ARCH) will still keep recording high profitability as the world struggles to cope with the disruptions in energy supply chains.

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