Advanced Reactors for State Policymakers, In Brief

This Brief serves as an introduction to advanced nuclear energy technologies and policies for state-level policymakers and stakeholders. The first part of this Brief describes advanced reactor technology and its benefits, provides an overview of enabling federal policies, and reviews state options to incentivize local development of advanced reactors. The second part of the Brief provides case studies of emerging state leaders in these technologies:     

• The Natrium project in Wyoming;    
• Energy Northwest’s plans in Washington state;    
• Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems’ consortium for the first light water small modular reactor, and;    
• the Nuclear Alternative Project in Puerto Rico. 

Finally, the last section of this Brief is a compendium of topical briefs that elaborate the characteristics of advanced reactors with respect to safety, economic benefits, waste remediation, the flexibility and dispatchability of advanced nuclear power, and its timing and development.