Iowa Nuclear Plant Restart Interest Strong, Says NextEra CEO
- John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, stated that the company is "extremely interested" in reactivating the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa.
- The plant is seeing strong interest from data center customers, Ketchum said.
- A month after Constellation Energy announced plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, Ketchum made his comments.
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The CEO stated that NextEra is conducting engineering assessments on the plant and collaborating with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local stakeholders to evaluate the possibility of a restart.
Ketchum stated that there is a strong interest from customers, particularly data center customers, in the site.
In July, the CEO stated that NextEra was considering restarting Duane Arnold. However, he emphasized that the company would only proceed with the project if it was completely risk-free.
The Duane Arnold Energy Center, located northwest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, shut down in 2020 after 40 years of operation. The U.S. nuclear industry has faced a wave of reactor shutdowns over the past decade due to competition from cheap natural gas.
Nuclear plants that were previously shut down are being restarted by power companies due to increasing electricity demand from data centers, manufacturing, and the electrification of the economy.
As tech companies such as Microsoft expand their artificial intelligence capabilities, they are facing significant challenges in meeting their energy demands. Nuclear power is gaining traction among these companies due to its ability to supply large amounts of dependable, carbon-free energy. Recently, Alphabet's Google and Amazon have made investments in advanced small nuclear reactors.
Holtec International, a privately held nuclear technology company, paved the way for restarting reactors with the Palisades plant in Michigan. The company anticipates that the plant will be operational again by the end of 2025, making it the first nuclear plant in U.S. history to restart after being shut down.
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