Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP) and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) announced earlier this month that they’ll be working together to explore adding nuclear generation in Arizona. APS is leading the effort in collaboration with SRP and TEP to assess a wide range of possible locations, including at the sites of retiring coal plants. Siting work for additional nuclear would consider small modular reactors (SMRs) and potential large reactor projects. SMRs, which are smaller than traditional nuclear power reactors, generate 300 megawatts (MW) or less of energy per unit.
The utilities have applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin preliminary exploration of a potential site for additional nuclear energy for Arizona. The application has been submitted under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations & Office of Nuclear Energy’s Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor program. If approved, the grant would support a three-year site selection process and possible preparation of an early site permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Arizona is one of nearly a dozen states that were considering coal to nuclear transitions as of last year, per the U.S. Department of Energy.
A 2022 DOE report found that more than 300 existing and retired coal power plant sites could convert to nuclear, dramatically increasing dispatchable, carbon-free energy as the country strives to meet its net-zero emissions goal by 2050. The department said each plant could match the size of the site being converted and help increase nuclear capacity by more than 250 GW — nearly tripling its current capacity of 95 GW.
Read more: Arizona utilities team up for new nuclear deployment, including at retired coal plants – Power Engineering