Pa. Nuclear Energy Roadmap Outlines Path to More Power

Rapidly rising demand for electricity is straining the electric grid and raising prices for consumers as lawmakers and regulatory authorities search for ways to bring more power online quickly to meet increasing data center needs and minimize rising costs.

Pennsylvania is taking on a prominent role in meeting these energy needs due to its abundant power sources, including coal, natural gas, and nuclear infrastructure. Team Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan state partner focused on accelerating economic growth, recently released the Pennsylvania Nuclear Energy Roadmap, a comprehensive strategy to bring together stakeholders to develop and move forward with coordinated action to strengthen Pennsylvania’s position as a national leader in nuclear energy.

Pennsylvania is home to the nation’s first commercial nuclear reactor in Shippingport, Beaver County, and now has eight operating reactors at four power plants around the state, representing the second-largest operating nuclear fleet in the nation. The former Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, site of a 1979 partial meltdown of one unit, shut down its remaining unit in 2019 as nuclear power fell out of favor due to its high cost relative to cheap natural gas.

But with demand rising, data center developers and the regional grid operator are looking for available power sources, and last year plans were announced to restart the undamaged reactor as the Crane Clean Energy Center to supply 835 megawatts of clean energy to Microsoft under a power purchase agreement. Meta and Amazon have also announced plans to purchase energy from the operating nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania.

Technological advancements have made nuclear energy safer, and it is being seen as a clean energy source. The Team PA roadmap outlines a framework to support the modernization of the existing fleet of plans and deployment of advanced nuclear technologies to move the industry forward.

Five strategic goals were identified to expand nuclear capacity by 2050: strengthening leadership and collaboration, sustaining and modernizing the existing fleet, enabling deployment of new technologies, growing Pennsylvania’s industrial supply chain, and building a future-ready talent pipeline.

The infrastructure and expertise needed for nuclear-grade manufacturing already exist in Pennsylvania and its manufacturing supply chain supports nuclear facilities nationwide, and the state is home to a number of world-class university research centers to advance technology, a release notes.

The roadmap identifies near-term actions that should be taken by 2030, and long-term strategies to move the state forward. It also identifies key stakeholders, important dynamics and policy considerations, and provides a timeline for critical actions, including establishing an interagency nuclear coordination group.