Press Mention EE News June 16, 2021
Topical Mention
TVA chief presses Biden on advanced reactors
In this mention
TVA CEO Jeff Lyash called on the federal government to increase support for small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technologies to help decarbonize the power sector by 2035. Lyash argued that SMRs could provide distributed clean power generation to meet growing electricity demand from electric vehicles and other sectors, provided costs and construction timelines become more certain for utilities.
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TVA chief presses Biden on advanced reactors
By:
Kristi E. Swartz
| 06/17/2021 07:16 AM EDT
Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Jeff Lyash is pictured on Capitol Hill on March 25. :Francis Chung/E&E News
ENERGYWIRE | The head of the nation's largest public power utility yesterday called on the federal government to increase its role in developing next-generation nuclear technologies.
Speaking at the American Nuclear Society's virtual annual meeting, Jeff Lyash, CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, said there is a "very clear role" for the federal government to support small modular reactors (SMRs) and other nuclear designs so the United States can decarbonize the power sector by 2035. President Biden has set a goal of making the United States carbon neutral by 2050.
Advocates say there is a pressing need for more distributed sources of clean power generation across the grid as electric vehicles and other parts of the economy use more electricity.
Lyash said SMRs could meet that need if costs and construction timelines are more certain for utilities.
"We have to be able to build the asset on a time schedule to be able to match up with the emerging [electricity] demand," he said.