Nucleation Capital will be participating in this SF Climate Week event for "fission futurists." Click the link to go to the invitation.
Governor Mikie Sherrill removed a permitting requirement that effectively banned the development of nuclear power for decades because it required a method of radioactive waste disposal that was impossible to meet.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Air pollution, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Electrification, Energy abundance, Energy transition, Fission, Government, Government support, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear-inclusive energy policy, Politicians supporting nuclear, Pronuclear States, Solving climate, Women in Nuclear
Our World in Data’s mission is to publish the research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. Founded by Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie, this team believes research and data are crucial to building a better future. This applies to poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality, the many other great and terrifying problems we face. Our World in Data focuses on using the data developed by thousands of researchers around the world who dedicate their lives to it, proper use of data can provide a good understanding of how to make progress against these large problems. The world has the resources to do much better and reduce suffering, should it choose to use it. However, a key reason why we fail to achieve the progress we are capable of is that we do not make enough use of this existing research and data: the important knowledge is often stored in inaccessible databases, locked away behind paywalls, and buried under jargon in academic papers. Our World in Data seeks to make this data more accessible.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Air pollution, Brilliant thinkers, Carbon emissions, Climate change, ENERGY TOOLS, Fission, Solving climate
Published by Nucleation Capital in Air pollution, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate Costs, Climate mayhem, Energy transition, VIDEO
Understanding Biotic Regulation
The challenge of addressing climate change is extremely complex. Even reducing emissions from energy use—as deploying more nuclear will help us to do—doesn't ensure climate stability for future generations. Fortunately, there are things we can do now to better protect our current and future climate and, in appreciation of our investors, advisors and supporters, we are donating to a group whose insights around "biotic regulation" can make a big difference in how humanity fares.
It turns out that forests play a critical and pro-active role in climate change dynamics. Forests, and especially old-growth rainforests, can help to reduce the impacts of our planet's warming. The mounting levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are adding tremendous amounts of heat forcing: that is certain. What is less certain is how severely we'll feel those impacts. With healthy forests, we're much better off.
Emerging from the work of a group of atmospheric physicists, ecophysiologists, and biologists, is an awareness that, weather is not uniform and extreme weather events aren't being distributed equally. Forests, rather than being simply passive stores of carbon, are active participants in controlling weather, particularly the wind and hydrologic cycles. This means, where there are forests, the weather will be more regular, more temperature controlled and more normal.
How do trees and forests do this? They leverage physics, chemistry and their own biology to regulate weather. Through spreading canopies and networks of roots, trees collaborate in keeping the land cool and moist. This cooler air can generate cloud cover, which in turn generates rain and limits the penetration of sunlight, limiting heating impacts and droughts.
Trees can also use their ability to transpire—release moisture from leaves—to help increase the level of humidity in their vicinity, which can increase the air's moisture content and actually hasten rainfall. Clouds in turn reflect the sun's radiation back out into space, reducing heating in their areas despite the higher concentrations of CO2.
Forests, we have learned, have evolved on the planet for millions of years and they have adapted by being able to moderate their own climate. Trees use a number of physical mechanisms—rising warm air, denser cool air and the effects of condensation, to influence winds to suck moist dense cooler air from the seas onto the land and blow warmer air out to sea. Forests are not passive plants: rather, they can act as a massive biologic organism that can actually impact the physics in their environment to trigger rain. Not only is this good for them—giving them the fresh water they need—it is also vital to humanity.
Dr. Anastassia Makarieva, author of the Biotic Regulation substack, frequently discusses this complex blend of physical, chemical and biologic forces that form what she describes as a "biotic pump" that moves water from the ocean to the land. She has argued persuasively that forests play an active role. Further, that thinking that the primary value of forests is in their use as a store of carbon, is failing to recognize their vital function as a force that literally drives a large portion of the hydrological cycles of the planet. Dr. Makarieva’s writing helps readers recognize the problem of focusing climate efforts exclusively on the issue of carbon emissions and not paying attention to the proactive role of forests as a moderator of extreme weather and protecting them . . . from being actively leveled.
As important as nuclear power is to humanity's ability to reduce emissions, preserving forests is equally important as a way to better prevent extreme heating effects from causing damange to vital ecosystems and human systems. Protecting our natural forests and especially rainforests is key to lengthening the runway for maintaining cooler temperatures and ensuring there is continued rain—even as emissions drive higher global temperatures. Therefore, in addition to our usual year-end support of non-profit groups protecting our nuclear power assets (blue), this year we are donating to the Biotic Pump Greening Group (green), which is working to increase our understanding of the role that forests play in protecting their own ecosystems.
Learn more below:
BIOTIC PUMP GREENING GROUP
About
The Biotic Pump Greening Group Institute is a Brazilian-based non-profit scientific, technological, and innovation organization focused on promoting a paradigm shift in combating Climate Change, ecological restoration, and reforestation. Our core mission is to advance the study of the Biotic Pump Theory and develop innovative practices for ecosystem protection, contributing to the defense and preservation of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development. To achieve this, we support scientific research, design restoration projects, organize educational events, and foster scientific and political activism.
For more information, you can reach out to Carlos Nobre Camargo or Dr. Anatassia Makarieva. If you'd like an introduction, we'd be happy to make that.
Instituto BPGG - Biotic Pump Greening Group:
CNPJ: 59.958.061/0001‑09
Avenida Alfredo Ignacio Nogueira Penido, 335, Sala 706
São José dos Campos – SP
CEP: 12.246‑000
Banking information:
BRADESCO Bank Brazil
Swift: BBDEBRSP
Instituto BPGG - CNPJ 59958061/0001-09
Branch: 06012
Account: 000018678
Iban: BR78.6074.6948.0601.2000.0186.783C.1
Other Groups Working to Protect Rainforests
1. Restore established by Michael Kellett, which collaborated with the Biotic Pump team on organizing an "Embracing Nature's Complexity" conference in Munich in 2024.
2. Mongabay founded by Rhett Ayers Butler, one of the leading providers of ecological journalism, reporting on the state of forests, the often nefarious destruction being wrought on rainforests by corporations and the efforts and challenges of those who seek to protect them. Mongabay was the first big environmental news outlet that covered the biotic pump story, initially back in 2012, with more recent follow ups.
3. Amazon Watch, a 30-year old 501(c) organization, works together with and in support of the Amazon's Indigenous Peoples and allies calling for the Amazon to be free of oil, gas, mining, and all extraction and for the U.N. and Amazonian governments to protect the Amazon from deforestation for palm production or other destructive activities.
Groups We Support Working to Protect Nuclear
1. Mothers for Nuclear: Was started on Earth Day in 2016 by two moms who want to protect their children’s future on this planet. They were initially skeptical of nuclear, but through many years of questioning and working at California’s last remaining nuclear plant, they gradually changed their minds. Now they support nuclear as our largest and most hopeful source of clean energy, vital to addressing some of our world’s biggest challenges: climate change, air pollution, and energy poverty. Now, we have an organized way to share our stories and begin a dialogue with others who want to protect nature for future generations.
2. Stand Up for Nuclear: Works to advance nuclear energy worldwide by activating leaders, driving action, and fostering informed public engagement. Since 2019, Stand Up for Nuclear has grown the international movement, uniting citizens and organizations to champion nuclear energy as a key to securing our clean, abundant energy future. They strive to create a future where nuclear energy is embraced as a reliable and sustainable solution for a low-carbon world.
3. Californians for Green Nuclear Power: Is dedicated to promoting the peaceful use of safe, carbon-free nuclear power, and to keeping Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant open, so it can continue in its important role of generating clean energy for the benefit of California’s economy.
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Air pollution, Brilliant thinkers, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Energy transition, Environmental support for nuclear, Extreme weather, Fission, Future of Energy, Global emissions, Hydrologic cycle, NEWS, Nuclear innovation, Rainforest protection, Regulatory reform, Solving climate, Venture capital support for nuclear, Women in Nuclear, Zero emission energy
She wants what's best for you . . .
Moms protect their children. For better or worse, she does what she thinks best, given her means. She sees to our needs, supports us when we struggle and helps us develop into self-reliant adults, often at great personal sacrifice.
But we are now at a critical junction in human history, perhaps one of the most crucial moments that will determine our trajectory. Our moms, for all their superpowers, may not fully recognize the new threat we face—because it is entirely invisible.
CO2, the waste emission created by our growing energy usage, is both colorless and odorless. Yet, it is impacting our future. Unlike with most types of toxic emissions that contribute to smog, moms can't see that the emissions from powering things we love—cars, boats, planes, televisions, computers, refridgerators, washing machines, phones, the Internet, websites and especially our homes—has filled our atmosphere with large molecules that serve to turn the heat up on the planet.
Can moms adapt to defending us from the risks posed by climate change?
For eons, moms have been perfectly evolved to meet their primary job qualifications: to provide for her child's physical and psychological safety. For as long as we have had recorded history, moms' love has helped populations thrive. But things have changed dramatically. Humanity, empowered with technologies unimaginable mere decades ago, are causing profound changes to our climate and ecosystems for the worse. Weather patterns are changing. Days are hotter and there are more of them. Trees flower earlier in the season. There is less and less rain, more severe droughts and forest fires. Areas that could once be farmed, can no longer grow crops. Fish populations that fed millions have declined. Bees, bats and insects are disappearing. Hurricanes and tornadoes arrive more frequently and fiercely. How can moms defend their children from a heating planet and all of its related effects? The job of protecting children from these climate threats is not straight-forward and may seem quite impossible, yet there are important things moms can and should do.
Focus on root causes and support an effective energy transition.
Many moms are already concerned about climate and fighting back. She may be planting trees, using less paper, fussing to close lights and turning down the heat. She's also probably recycling, refusing plastic straws and plastic bags and composting. Moms with excess resources are likely donating to stem deforestation, habitat loss and species extinction. She may even opt to invest in ESG and impact-focused funds. While laudable, none of these activities directly target the cause of the problem and so are not a good use of moms' time, talents or resources.
Mom, like the rest of us, must focus on the root cause of climate change. Which is the CO2 emissions from humanity's collective burning of over 100 million gallons of oil per day, 25 million tons of coal and a comparable amount of natural gas each day. It is these daily energy choices that generate over 100 million tonnes of CO2 emissions waste daily and over 40 billion tonnes annually—an enormous amount that goes almost entirely into the atmosphere, which further heats the planet. This is the real problem and the only way to lessen the threat we're facing is to transition away from carbon-emitting fossil fuels to other types of energy that don't emit CO2.
The good news: Over 200 countries agreed that transitioning away from fossil fuels is a global imperative. In late 2023, world leaders met in Abu Dhabi, Dubai at COP 28 and specifically agreed on this. It won't surprise Mom at all that it took all 28 of these week-long annual "Conference of the Parties" gatherings to arrive at this generic agreement. It was every bit as difficult as getting a child to agree to clean up his room. But they got it done at last. Some thirty countries committed to triple the amount of nuclear they use. Others committed to increasing their wind and solar. As hard as it was to arrive at this agreement, there's still much disagreement over how to effect this transition and over what period of time.
The bad news: While there's been considerable progress building out wind and solar, these technologies haven't lived up to the hype that they can solve the problem. Everyone hoped they would and, yes, we love getting free energy from the sun and the wind. Sadly, the actual technologies required to capture and convert that natural energy into power are neither free nor efficient. In the "you get what you pay for" department, renewables are cheap but so unreliable that even where they've been fully built out, we still need to burn fossil fuels to meet the 24/7 level of energy demanded by customers. It turns out that our near constant energy demand doesn't pair well with highly intermittent sources like wind and solar. Adding them to the grid has increased costs to end users largely because of the need for significant further expenditures on peaker gas plants and large batteries to try to firm up their very low generation capacity.
What other clean energy options are there?
There aren't many, which is why we need better options. And we need them urgently. Among the options we have are hydro power, geothermal power and nuclear power. Hydro and geothermal power are currently limited to specific geographies, most of which areas are already fully exploited. Traditional grid-scale nuclear is pretty darn good (despite its reputation) but has historically come in a "one-size-fits-all" configuration that can cost billions and take a decade or more to build. Against this backdrop, there's more good news.
Entrepreneurs are working to innovate to make nuclear power smaller, modular and safer. And, best of all, these new advanced designs are on the verge of being commercialized, so adding exciting new energy options that can directly replace smaller coal and gas plants. Meanwhile, they are rapidly becoming the most compelling medium-term solution to our energy problems. Just recently, Google, Amazon, Dow Chemical, Nucor and other large companies have begun to place orders for power from advanced nuclear because they see it as helping them meet both their energy growth and decarbonization goals.
Tech companies have but will Moms go Nuclear to protect their children?
For most of our lives, our moms opposed nuclear power. They feared nuclear bombs and believed that nuclear power plants posed similar risks. The idea that a melt-down accident at a nuclear power plant could explode and contaminate huge swaths of land seemed like an existential threat that had moms everywhere up in arms. Accidents like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima seemed only to prove them right. Protesting moms did their thing and eventually succeeded in preventing new nuclear power plants from being built for most of the last 40 years. At the time, with their then limited understanding of the risks, this seemed like the right thing to do, so it is easy to understand the rationale. But was it?
Now, more than 40 years later, we actually have a much better understanding. And it turns out it was a huge mistake. Had the original plans developed by Presidents Eisenhower and, later, John F. Kennedy to build out a fleet of nuclear power plants to meet all US energy needs succeeded, we would not have a climate catastrophe on our hands. But, because of public opposition, nuclear grew only to be 20% of our electricity needs and then its growth was halted.
In its place, the fossil fuel industry was allowed to grow unchecked, vastly accelerating CO2 emissions and turning global warming into a full blown catastrophe. We've already seen 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) of confirmed warming and there much more to come, as more emissions are added to the existing molecular blanket trapping solar radiation and heating the planet. It is as bad for the health of our planet as it would be if your child had a fever of 102.7 that just continued rising.
While the worst impacts of our use of fossil fuels may still be a ways off, even the current level poses an existential risk to humanity. We are failing to meet our initial goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030, which is five years away and emissions have not declined at all. Not solving this problem by greatly reducing our level of emissions is causing tremendous psychological stress in younger generations. This is why moms everywhere need to act and fast. They need to show their children that they are doing what it takes, which requires thinking outside the box and being willing to do things we may not be comfortable with.
Next-generation nuclear is the disruptive, scalable solution we need.
Things seem bad right now. The Trump Administration is in denial about climate change and the very topic of climate change has become terribly polarized. Progressives want to end fossil fuel use but demand that we replace it with renewables, which clearly aren't up to the job. Conservatives are rightly worried about rising energy prices and energy reliability and love nuclear but they've shown little concern about addressing climate. While thsese differences cause political dysfunction, there is considerable bipartisan agreement about the need to accelerate advanced nuclear. Somehow, between climate doom and climate denial, both sides for vastly different reasons, agree on the importance of accelerating next-generation nuclear.
This bipartisan support is not new It started with the Obama Administration, which set the stage to support nuclear innovation. Thereafter, the first Trump Administration signed several pieces of legislation passed by the Congress aimed at accelerating the commercialization of next-generation nuclear. Then, in the lead-up to the IRA, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, which set up the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, with funding to help prevent the premature closure of nuclear power plants. Governor Newsom used these funds to help save Diablo Canyon. The IRA provided further support for nuclear by levelling the playing field and allowing nuclear power to qualify for the same clean energy tax benefits that wind and solar could. Biden also signed the ADVANCE Act, which accelerates the commercialization of nuclear with a series of reforms of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, its mission and its process.
In each instance, Congress supported efforts to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation with huge bipartisan majorities, and often just a few nay votes. This shows just how much attitudes have changed around nuclear energy, which has one of the lowest carbon intensities—so is a top solution to climate change—while at the same time, providing energy security, job creation and national security. At the moment, although the Trump Administration has shown no interest in supporting climate goals, the DOE recently re-issued a $900 million funding solicitation left over from the Biden era for advanced nuclear. Nuclear energy is the middle ground we need to solve climate.
Mom will likely be thrilled to support a true climate solution
Supporting the growth of advanced nuclear energy is the ideal pathway for those seeking to solve climate change. Next-gen nuclear is already in demand by tech hyperscalers and others seeking clean and reliable sources of energy. The innovations underway are working to make these new designs safer, cheaper and easier to deploy. The whole nuclear industry is hard at work increasing capacity factors, improving materials, fabricating safer fuels, making operations more efficient and training workers. This makes it the perfect time to invest into these ventures, so that new designs can finally get to market and energy buyers can begin to displace fossil fuels.
A pregnant Maddy Hilly standing next to a dry cask storage tank holding nuclear waste.
So, for Mother's Day, help your mother get caught up with nuclear's incomparable safety record. Explain the many amazing benefits of nuclear. Show her that nuclear helps reduce ecologic impacts and cleans the air. Clarify why concerns about nuclear waste are a political red herring, since nuclear's waste is already safely stored on site—as shown by Maddy Hilly at the INL—hurting no one and definitely not causing climate change, in stark contrast to fossil fuel waste, which pollutes the air, contributes to millions of premature deaths annually and causes our slow-moving global climate disaster.
Help your Mom go Nuclear on Mother's Day
Help mom become one of the growing numbers of women supporting nuclear. Introduce her to groups like Mothers for Nuclear, and show her how working mothers have launched pronuclear non-profits and permeated the nuclear industry because of their concerns about climate change. It doesn't take a mom to recognize that fossil fuels are well past their "Sell by" dates and need to go! But before that transition can happen, there has to be a much better way to generate reliable energy. That's next-generation nuclear power and why it is so important to get these technologies to market as fast as possible.
Mom will appreciate learning about next-gen nuclear and the many ways that she can help, whether by joining or supporting an organization like Mothers for Nuclear, investing into this sector and funding the companies developing innovative solutions or just by talking to her friends about nuclear power—it will all help. Almost nothing else she can do will be as effective at the global scale. But helping next-generation nuclear succeed can have a direct future impact on reducing carbon emissions.
She already loves you forever. You can now help her do her job to protect your future.
Happy Mother's Day from the Nucleation team!
Thank you for reading this. Love of our children and deep appreciation of what nuclear offers humanity is why we have worked to build the first venture fund that invest in advanced nuclear and deep decarbonization innovations. Nucleation's Fund I is in its fourth year and still accepting new accredited investors every quarter. We have made it easy and affordable. If you or your mom subscribe between Mother's Day and May 30th, 2025 and reference this Mother's Day post, we will send you your choice of a Nucleation Capital T-shirt, vest or baseball cap. Learn more and subscribe here.
Published by Valerie Gardner in Advanced Nuclear, Air pollution, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Energy abundance, Energy transition, Extreme weather, Fission, Fossil fuel mortality, Fossil fuels, NEWS, Nuclear innovation, Nucleation communications, Pro-nuclear campaign, Solving climate, US technological leadership
As we reported in a post titled "States vying to host nuclear development," most U.S. States—along with many countries—recognize that nuclear power is vital to every jurisdiction's ability to generate reliable and clean power and that demand for nuclear is going to grow. Accordingly, many U.S. States have begun efforts to attract nuclear developments and nuclear power developers so as to both gain the additional power being added and the economic development benefits of hosting some portion of this growing sector. Now that AI development has sent Big Tech out in search of locations to build new data centers, which require massive amounts of energy, the race to attract nuclear power has grown even fiercer. There are so many developments, it would not be practical to post each individual state's initiatives separately. Thus, we are using this page to try to provide current updates on each state's nuclear initiatives, listed alphabetically.
Arizona
Arizona, home to one of the country's largest nuclear power plants, lawmakers are considering a utility-backed bill to relax environmental regulations if a utility builds a reactor at the site of a large industrial power user or a retired coal-fired power plant..
California
Alone among the most populated, industrial and progressive U.S. states, California remains mired in antiquated antinuclear politics. Although there is a large fraction of advanced nuclear innovation happening at startups located in California, California’s moratorium on new nuclear plants will force these ventures to seek alternative states in which to build their technologies. California’s leadership has shown no interest in competing to win the race to attract all of the talent, federal funding, jobs and economic development that will accompany the growth of this innovative sector and, by all appearances, the state has now fallen behind Texas, Wyoming, Illinois, New York and even Connecticut.
But, there are signs of attitudinal shifts happening even in deep blue California. Both California’s progressive Governor, Gavin Newsom, who for years workd to force the retirement of Diablo Canyon, and the state’s legislature reversed their decisions at the last minute and delayed the closure of the nuclear facility for five more years. They recognized, if reluctantly, that the plant had reliably provided almost 20% of the state’s zero-emission power and 8% of its electricity for decades. Shutting it down would expose the state to dire and life-threatening power outages without the plant’s high capacity-factor reliability and highly differentiated, non-intermittent generation. It would also set back progress on the state’s climate goals.
Sadly, despite several attempts over the years by elected legislators to bring the state into competitive parity with the country and do away with its 49-year old nuclear moratorium, make exceptions for SMRs, and/or conduct feasibility studies about SMRs, these bills have not made it out of committee. Thus, the state appears poised to miss out on the energy revolution made possible by next-generation nuclear, even with many advanced nuclear ventures being located in California.
Connecticut
Connecticut has a state-wide ban but passed an exception in 2022 that allows more nuclear construction at the site of the state’s one operating nuclear power plant, the Millstone Power Station. This specifically allows Dominion Energy to build advanced nuclear at the Millstone site. Dominion has shown interest in SMRs and recently announced a deal with X-energy to build their advanced design, in partnership with Amazon.
Illinois
One of the largest nuclear generating states, Illinois produces 53% of its electricity (and 90% of its clean energy) from nuclear power, and recently passed HB 2473, lifting the state’s moratorium on building new nuclear reactors—but only for small modular reactors (SMRs) rated for 300 megawatts or less. This measure was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat.
Indiana
Indiana lawmakers passed legislation to let utilities more quickly seek reimbursement for the cost to build a modular reactor, undoing a decades-old prohibition designed to protect ratepayers from bloated, inefficient or, worse, aborted power projects.
Maine
Maine, which has not had an operating nuclear power plant since 1996, considered a bill to classify nuclear power as “clean,” to thus qualify it for carbon credits and other preferential treatment.
Maryland
Maryland joined the National Association of State Energy Officials’s Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, or ANFMI, to develop supportive policies, coordinate with private stakeholders, and work toward unique procurement and financing options for nuclear energy projects. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Maryland are considering a bill that would include nuclear power in a new zero-emissions credit program, creating an additional revenue stream for nuclear projects there.
Michigan
Michigan has worked to protect and increase its nuclear power and sits at the forefront of resurgent state interest in nuclear energy. Michigan’s Democratic Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, worked to prevent the closure of the Palisades nuclear power plant. But, when a mechanical problem forced the plant’s sudden closure, the state legislature agreed to put $150 million toward the potential restart of Palisades, in what would be the US’ first-ever restart of a shuttered generating station. Under the Biden Administration’s Civil Nuclear Credit program, the plant subsequently received a $1.5 billion conditional loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy, to help fund the repairs and restart and potentially enable Holtec to build several SMRs on the site as well. Michigan lawmakers are also considering millions of dollars in incentives to develop and use the reactors, as well as train a nuclear industry workforce.
New York
New York has no statewide restriction but still has a narrow ban on new reactor development in the service territory of the Long Island Lighting Company, which covers Nassau, Suffolk and some of Queens counties. Although New York’s disgraced former governor, Andrew Cuomo, forced the premature closure of Indian Point which eliminated 80% of the then available clean energy for downstate New York, New York’s current Governor, Kathy Hochul appears to be bringing nuclear back. She announced the state’s largest and most ambitious initiative to tackle the climate crisis with a new master plan. This includes a commitment of $1 billion by the state and specifically includes NYSERDA’s Blueprint for Consideration of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies, which outlines a process for the inclusion of advanced nuclear in the state’s Master Plan consideration process. Additionally, New York State will co-lead a multi-state initiative to support nuclear refurbishment and new nuclear development. This seems to place New York State firmly in the race to attract next-generation nuclear developers. New York joined the National Association of State Energy Officials’s Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, or ANFMI.
New York issued a request for information from “entities either already pursuing, or interested in pursuing, a potential role in advanced nuclear energy technology development” and an interim “blueprint” for nuclear power deployment as it prepares to release a more comprehensive nuclear “master plan”. Constellation Energy said that, with support from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, it would apply for a federal grant to seek an early site permit “for one or more advanced nuclear reactors” at its 1,907-MW Nine Mile Point Clean Energy Center near Oswego, New York.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania joined the National Association of State Energy Officials’s Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, or ANFMI, to develop supportive policies, coordinate with private stakeholders, and work toward unique procurement and financing options for nuclear energy projects.
Tennessee
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee proposed allocating more than $90 million to help subsidize a Tennessee Valley Authority project to install several small reactors, boost research and attract nuclear tech firms. As a long-time proponent of the TVA’s nuclear project, Lee also launched Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Fund in 2023, designed to attract a supply chain, including a multibillion-dollar uranium enrichment plant billed as the state’s biggest-ever industrial investment.
Texas
Texas prides itself on being the “energy capital of the world.” It is setting itself up to become the “epicenter” for deployment of advanced nuclear and has taken some impressive steps to achieve this goal. In the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri, which resulted in extended power outages that caused many cold-related fatalities, an industry group got together to form the Texas Nuclear Alliance, dedicated to the advancement of nuclear technology in Texas and a mission to make Texas the “Nuclear Capital of the World.” TNA’s underlying premise was that, to meet the need for low-carbon and reliable energy, Texas could not afford to turn its back on “clean, safe, reliable and secure” nuclear energy.
By late 2023, Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, directed the Texas Public Utility Commission to establish a working group to study advanced nuclear. A year later, in November 2024, the Governor and the PUCT announced the release of the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group’s final report on Texas’ plan to build a world-leading advanced nuclear power industry. The report’s multiple goals sought to enhance electric reliability and energy security, promote economic development, and unleash new opportunities for the growing Texas workforce. In commenting on the PUC’s report, Governor Abbott said:
“Texas is the energy capital of the world, and we are ready to be No. 1 in advanced nuclear power. By utilizing advanced nuclear energy, Texas will enhance the reliability of the state grid and provide affordable, dispatchable power to Texans across the state. As we build an advanced nuclear industry in our great state, we will ensure Texas remains a leader in energy and strengthen the Texas grid to meet the demands of our growing state.”
If you click on the report image on the right, it takes you directly to the report package, which is a thing of beauty. The Executive Summary finds five key benefits to making Texas the epicenter of advanced nuclear in the U.S.: 1) Enhance energy security; 2) Improve grid reliability; 3) Expand economic development opportunities; 4) Capture first-in-nation advantages that bring jobs, revenue and industrial growth; and 5) Capture international trade opportunities as the world works to triple the amount of nuclear available by 2050.
How will Texas take this lead? By doing what Texas does best: cutting “red tape” and establishing major “incentives” to “attract investments,” accelerate advanced nuclear deployments and overcome regulatory hurdles. It’s a very good plan . . . and far exceeds efforts by any other state to attract advanced nuclear development to itself.
Best of all, Texas isn’t merely posturing. The Texas Nuclear Alliance has partnered with the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS, which boasts eleven universities, eight agencies and an enormous 2100 acre parcel of land called the Rellis Campus devoted to supporting technology innovation) and announced that they have selected four advanced nuclear ventures to build their own advanced reactor at Texas A&M. These companies, called TNA Founding Members, include: Kairos Power, Natura Resources, Terrestrial Energy and Aalo Atomics. These companies responded to an RFP in the summer of 2024 to bring their designs to the Rellis campus and were accepted. While there are unknowns about what this selection means for these companies, solving the siting issue can provide a significant advantage in the highly competitive race to be the first to deploy. [Click here to see how beautifully Texas A&M promotes the Rellis campus.]
Utah
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced “Operation Gigawatt” to double the state’s electricity generation in a decade. He wants to spend $20 million to prepare sites for nuclear. State Senate President J. Stuart Adams told colleagues when he opened the chamber’s 2025 session that Utah needs to be the “nation’s nuclear hub.”
Virginia
Virginia’s recent pro-nuclear moves include state funding for an energy “career cluster” and a state-supported energy lab that help enable deployment of advanced nuclear reactors near former coal mines. These efforts are designed to attract workers, jobs and investments by companies in the growing advanced nuclear sector, which is poised to begin building SMRs at the country’s already shuttered and retiring coal plants. Dominion Energy issued a request for proposals for a possible small modular reactor deployment at its 1,892-MW North Anna Power Station and subsequently announced a memorandum of understanding with Amazon to support the Virginia project. Virginia joined the National Association of State Energy Officials’s Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, or ANFMI, a regional initiative.
West Virginia
West Virginia joined the National Association of State Energy Officials’s Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, or ANFMI, to develop supportive policies, coordinate with private stakeholders, and work toward unique procurement and financing options for nuclear energy projects.
Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, several lawmakers introduced a resolution calling on the Legislature to publicly support nuclear power and fusion energy. They intend that the state, in passing the resolution, makes what could be deemed a formal declaration that Wisconsin is open for nuclear industry business.
Wyoming
Wyoming, seen as an “early mover,” is one state that began laying the groundwork to attract and build next-generation nuclear prior to 2020, when Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, signed a bill forbidding coal plants to close but allowing small modular reactor capacity to replace the coal generation capacity. Subsequent legislation in 2022 and 2023 provided regulatory streamlining for advanced reactor deployment and authorized the state to match private funds up to $150 million. These actions helped the state win over TerraPower, the advanced nuclear venture owned by Bill Gates, which is now building infrastructure for what may be the first advanced nuclear power plant near the site of a retiring coal-fired power plant, in Kemmerer, Wyoming. It helped Wyoming a lot that Bill Gates was then close friends with Warren Buffet whose Wyoming-based company, PacifiCorp, owns many struggling coal plants and so found a site they were willing to let TerraPower use. Wyoming joined the National Association of State Energy Officials’s Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, or ANFMI, to develop supportive policies, coordinate with private stakeholders, and work toward unique procurement and financing options for nuclear energy projects.
[Note, we endeavor to keep this article updated with more recent information.]
Sources
- Office of the Texas Governor | Greg Abbott, Texas Leads As Energy Capital Of The World In 2024, December 27, 2024.
- Texas Nuclear Alliance, Texas Nuclear Alliance Members Selected to Build Nuclear Reactors at Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus, press release of 2/4/25 by the Texas Nuclear Alliance and Time to Build. (See video of the announcement.)
- Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group, Deplying a World-Renowned Nuclear Industry in Texas: Considerations and Recommendations for Action, November 18, 2024.
- DOE, Office of Nuclear Energy, What is a Nuclear Moratorium? Sept. 20, 2024
- Governor Kathy Hochul, Governor Hochul Commits More Than $1 Billion to Tackle the Climate Crisis – the Single Largest Climate Investment in New York’s History, January 14, 2025.
- CALMatters, Artificial intelligence is bringing nuclear power back from the dead — maybe even in California, by Alex Shultz, January 30, 2025.
- NYSERDA, Blueprint for Consideration of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies, January 2025
- LexisNexis, States Take Another Look at Nuclear Power to Combat Climate Change, Dec. 17, 2023.
- Associated Press, Majority of US states pursue nuclear power for emission cuts, by Jennifer McDermott, Jan. 18, 2022.
- Utility Dive, As states increasingly look to advanced nuclear, Wyoming, Virginia and Michigan lead the way, by Brian Martucci, April 17, 2024.
- Stateline, Federal money could supercharge state efforts to preserve nuclear power, by Alex Brown, February 12, 2024.
- Hannah Ritchie, Data Explorer: US State-by-State Electricity Sources, updated in 2025.
- Wisconsin Public Radio, 2 GOP state lawmakers pushing to advance nuclear energy in Wisconsin, by Joe Schultz, Feb. 13, 2025
- Seattle Times, New wave of smaller, cheaper nuclear reactors sends US states racing to attract the industry, by Marc Levy, Mar. 28, 2025
- UtilityDive, As offshore wind struggles, is advanced nuclear a viable Plan B for Eastern states? by Brian Martucci, March 27, 2025
Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Air pollution, Climate change, Climate innovation fund, Construction costs, Energy abundance, Energy transition, Fission, Future of Energy, Government support, Land Use by Energy, NEWS
Nucleation’s listing of the notable benefits of nuclear power in helping secure and stabilize the world’s energy supplies in a zero-emission economy, while posing the least amount of ecologic impact, cost and materials burden.
Published by Nuclea_Admin in Advanced Nuclear, Air pollution, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Construction costs, Electrification, Energy abundance, Fail-safe fuels, Fission, Future of Energy, Land Use by Energy, Radiation & LNT Rules, RESOURCES, Solving nuclear waste, Uranium mining & Fuel resources, Zero emission energy
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