Statement from American Nuclear Society President Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar and CEO Craig Piercy
On behalf of America’s nuclear engineers and scientists, the American Nuclear Society welcomes the release of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. We are thrilled to see the inclusion of America’s largest carbon-free energy technology, nuclear energy, in Biden’s infrastructure plan to reenergize and decarbonize our economy.
We applaud the plan for recognizing that both existing and advanced nuclear energy needs to be supported and expanded if our power grid is to successfully decarbonize by 2035. This welcomed support includes shortlisting advanced nuclear among other technologies for eligibility to receive demonstration project funding and calling for the use of federal buying power to facilitate domestic manufacturing of critical technologies like advanced nuclear. The nuclear energy industry supports high-paying jobs that last decades and a growing world market for small modular and advanced reactor designs promise job growth for communities across the U.S.
In addition, we commend the plan’s clean electricity standard that seeks to leverage and incentivize more efficient use of existing carbon-free energy from our current fleet of large light water reactors. Our clean energy future depends on preserving our existing nuclear power plants.
The Biden administration’s goal of decarbonizing the power grid by 2035 and the economy by 2050 requires the widespread availability of firm, dispatchable zero-carbon energy technologies that can be relied upon at any time of day. Nuclear energy is the only commercially proven zero-carbon energy technology capable of generating firm, dispatchable carbon-free electricity for a resilient and decarbonized power grid.
As outlined in the recent ANS-led task force report, ‘The Nuclear Imperative,’ a significant acceleration of federal investments in advanced nuclear energy research and development is required if the U.S. is to meet its decarbonization goals as rapidly and efficiently as possible.
