Constellation Energy said the company is applying for federal funding as it evaluates whether to put one or more small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) at its Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant in New York.
Constellation in a news release on Jan. 15 said the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has joined the utility on a grant proposal to the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). Constellation wants to obtain an early site permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the project.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged the project in her State of the State speech on Jan. 14, saying her administration supports the request. “New York State will … support an application by Constellation Energy, the owner of New York’s operating nuclear plants, to the United States Department of Energy for a planning grant to explore the possibility of bringing a small modular reactor online,” Hochul said.
Constellation, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, and which recently announced a multi-billion deal to acquire Texas-based energy provider Calpine, operates four reactors in New York State. The utility has two utility-scale reactors at Nine Mile Point in Oswego County, with a total 1,850 MW of generation capacity. It has a single, 842-MW reactor at the James A. FitzPatrick Clean Energy Center in Oswego County, and a 576-MW reactor at the R.E. Ginna Clean Energy Center in Ontario, in Wayne County.
Constellation has 21 reactors in the U.S. and is the nation’s largest nuclear power operator.
“We appreciate the governor’s leadership and New York’s ongoing support for nuclear energy, which produces more than 20% of the state’s energy, supporting millions of households and businesses and employing thousands of hardworking women and men in family-sustaining jobs,” said Joe Dominguez, Constellation’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Constellation has previously worked with NYSERDA to develop leading clean hydrogen production and fuel cell technologies using nuclear power. Now, NYSERDA and Constellation are once again joining together with a commitment to explore advanced nuclear energy technologies and continue the meaningful progress toward New York’s clean energy and economic development goals.”
Constellation’s three upstate nuclear power plants supply about half of New York’s electricity. The company in a news release on Wednesday wrote: “NYSERDA’s cost share funding is a critical first step in helping to determine whether new nuclear can become a reality in New York, creating thousands of jobs and helping the state achieve its clean energy and reliability goals at a time of growing electricity demand.”
Funding from the DOE, if approved, would be used toward securing the early site permit from the NRC. Constellation said the permit is valid for 10 to 20 years, and the company can apply for a construction and operating license at any time during the permit period. A decision from the DOE is expected in a few months.
There are currently no commercial SMRs operating in the U.S., though several companies are working on the technology. Constellation holds a minority interest in Rolls-Royce SMR, and is working with that company to deploy a fleet of SMRs in the Netherlands.
China and Russia at present have the only commercially operating SMRs worldwide.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
