Preserving the country’s civilian nuclear power fleet is “critical” to meeting federal clean energy goals, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee told the Joe Biden administration this week.
“As a zero-emissions baseload fuel source, I believe that maintaining our fleet and preventing closures of existing nuclear plants is critical to achieving emission reduction goals and ensuring a reliable grid,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) told Biden in a letter Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time Manchin’s expressed concern about the dwindling U.S. civilian nuclear fleet. At a March 25 hearing on nuclear energy he sounded the alarm about the potential effects plant closures would have on the Biden administration’s climate agenda.
“If we are serious about meeting our climate goals without sacrificing reliability, we must protect our existing fleet,” Manchin said at the hearing.
Congress hasn’t shied away from nuclear energy as part of its climate agenda. The CLEAN Future Act, unveiled by House Democrats in March, designates nuclear as a “clean energy project” eligible for tax credits and grants.
In the meantime, plants are still coming down. Nuclear plant closures will account for the biggest percentage of generating capacity loss this year, the Energy Information Administration reported in January.
There are four nuclear power plants slated for closure this year. New York’s Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station is set to go completely dark this month with the shutdown of its Unit 3 reactor. The Byron and Dresden plants in Illinois as well as the Palisades plant in Michigan are also on the chopping block.
