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ANS Members Provide Insights on the Clean Power Plan

ANS members Steve Skutnik and Sam Brinton provided insights on the future of existing nuclear power plants in a Vox online article.

The Vox story outlines the possible fork in the road future of existing nuclear power plants based on the lack of incentives for them in the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.

Steve Skutnik is an assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and has studied the details of the Clean Power Plan. He states that, “states were basically given no incentive to look at extending these assets,” referring to the existing fleet of 99 commercial reactors in the U.S.

Sam Brinton of Third Way recently published a research report with fellow author Josh Feed that explores the possibility of more nuclear plants retiring based on the lack of incentives in the CPP to keep existing plants open longer. The report sites that ironically, emissions would rise if more retirements occurred than the EPA projects. "In our models," the authors write, "any [additional nuclear] retirements would make it extremely difficult for the Clean Power Plan to reach its emissions targets of 32% below 2005 levels."

To read the full Vox story click here.

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