- DOE cites national security concerns to stop plant losses for two years
- Department to comprehensively analyze grid resiliency
- NEI’s Korsnick: Once a nuclear plant closes, a national security asset is gone forever
The Nuclear Energy Institute and the nation’s largest nuclear utility are encouraged by the Trump administration’s continuing focus on the role that nuclear energy plays in ensuring the resilience of the national power grid and in national security.
Last week President Trump ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to “prepare immediate steps” to stop premature closures of “fuel-secure” nuclear and coal power plants and prevent further risks to national security and grid resilience.
A June 1 White House press release said the action is based on the president’s belief that “keeping America’s energy grid and infrastructure strong and secure protects our national security, public safety, and economy from intentional attacks and natural disasters.”
The statement added that “impending retirements of fuel-secure power facilities are leading to a rapid depletion of a critical part of our nation’s energy mix, and impacting the resilience of our power grid.”
Responding to the announcement, NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Korsnick commended the administration for considering options available to recognize U.S. nuclear power plants as national security assets and retain their operation.
“We have repeatedly warned of the need to stem the tide of the early retirement of nuclear units whose function is irreplaceable in a resilient and reliable grid,” Korsnick said.
Once a nuclear power plant closes, it begins decommissioning and will not be reopened. This finality is why it is critically important to preserve the fuel security offered by nuclear plants under threat of premature closure. This fuel security is an essential element of national security.
The White House’s latest announcement reflects the administration’s ongoing focus on grid resilience, which began last September when Perry directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to “take swift action” to address threats to the resiliency of the U.S. electric grid. The U.S. Department of Energy proposed a rule requiring organized markets to develop ways to compensate fuel-secure electricity generators for the resiliency they provide to the grid.
Although FERC declined to adopt DOE’s proposed rulemaking, it opened a new proceeding in which FERC directed the regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) to assess grid resilience and recommend actions to mitigate identified issues. That assessment is ongoing.
On the same day as the White House press release, Bloomberg News reported on a leaked memorandum that was being considered by the National Security Council. The leaked document, which comprises an addendum of a larger document, describes the energy security risks being faced by the electricity system and the implications that grid failures would have for national security and the nation’s industrial base.
Among the risks the memorandum cites are the increasing interconnectivity between the grid and the national gas infrastructure and the concern that 99 percent of military installations depend on the commercial power grid. The memorandum also focuses on the importance of the civilian nuclear industry to national security and the need to preserve diversity of fuel-secure generation.
DOE may act under authorities in the Defense Production Act and the Federal Power Act. Although DOE has not yet published details regarding the precise means by which the resilience issues would be addressed, the memorandum briefly describes a two-step process to delay further retirements of fuel-secure generators. As a stopgap measure, RTOs and ISOs may be directed to ensure the purchase of electricity from at-risk plants for two years. DOE would use that time to comprehensively analyze and address the resiliency needs of the grid.
Speaking June 6 at the Edison Electric Institute’s annual meeting, Exelon Corp. Chief Executive Officer Chris Crane praised the administration for its keen attention to the issue. Exelon operates the largest nuclear fleet in the nation and has announced plans to close some nuclear plants prematurely if underlying market issues are not addressed.
We have an administration that we greatly appreciate now that recognizes that this is an underanalyzed situation. And if we don’t focus on resiliency and national security, we can end up in a very dire situation.
“That’s what I think the administration is doing now … not only price formation to make sure the units are adequately compensated but the resiliency review from the unintended consequences of driving plants out of the stack that we need for reliability,” Crane said, adding that once reactors close “they can never come back.”