Biden adviser says administration working on restarting shuttered nuclear plants: Reuters

The Biden administration is working on bringing decommissioned nuclear plants back online to help the country satisfy surging demand for emissions-free power, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi reportedly said Monday.

Speaking at the Reuters Sustainability USA 2024 conference in New York, Zaidi was quoted as saying by the news agency that the administration is “working on it in a very concrete way” when asked if other shuttered plants could be recommissioned.

According to Reuters, he declined to name the plants or disclose further details about the drive.

Zaidi reportedly said restarting dormant plans was part of a three-prong strategy of the administration to bring back more nuclear power to fight climate change and bolster output. He added the other prongs include developing small nuclear reactors ((SMRs)) for some applications and the ongoing development of next generation, advanced reactors.

The US Navy has requested information on building SMRs on some bases, Zaidi was quoted as telling the conference. “SMR is a technology that is not a decades-away play. It’s one that companies in the United States are looking to deploy in this decade,” he reportedly said.

Despite recently shelving wind lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Oregon due to low demand from companies and high costs, equipment problems, and supply-chain issues hit other projects, Zaidi reportedly said at least half of the goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade is under construction.