Thorium can power long-term growth nuclear generation

Nuclear energy has received a lot of investor focus, especially following the President's recent executive orders and numerous agreements to supply nuclear power to data centers. But while adding capacity to existing plants isn't a major challenge, adding new US plants is more difficult. Jess Gehin from the Idaho National Lab and BofA Global Research's US Utility analyst Ross Fowler join to discuss what may lie ahead. Jess covers how the recent Executive Orders could accelerate the deployment of nuclear and how they've already stimulated activity. Jess also discusses HALEU, a more enriched variety of uranium used in some of the small modular nuclear reactors as well as Thorium, a reactor fuel that was studied in the 1960s and which has seen a resurgence of interest. While Thorium could eventually provide the US a domestically sourced nuclear fuel that enables longer term growth in nuclear generation, Jess believes uranium will be the fuel that continues to dominate for the foreseeable future.

 

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