CNBC reports that the US brought online a new US reactor online, the unit 3 reactor at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia, for the first time in seven years. CNBC said:
The last time a nuclear reactor started delivering energy to the power grid was in October 2016, when the Tennessee Valley Authority began commercial operation of its Watts Bar Unit 2 near Spring City, Tenn., according to Scott Burnell, a spokesperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Prior to that, there hadn’t been a new nuclear reactor turned on since Watts Bar 1 in May 1996.
The unit 3 power reactor at Vogtle will deliver electricity to customers for the next 60 to 80 years, Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene said in a statement.
Interest in nuclear energy has been increasing significantly in recent years as the sense of urgency in responding to climate change has pushed demand for clean energy. Nuclear energy contributed 47% of America’s carbon-free electricity in 2022, according to the DOE, and has contributed about 20% of the nation’s overall energy since the 1990s.