// MIT TECH REVIEW — INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE
How much more can nuclear power plants give?
Upgrades could bring more clean power to the grid, but there's only so much room to grow.
In this age of rising electricity demand, people are trying to squeeze every last bit of power out of every power plant possible.
Over the past few weeks, there’s been big news about nuclear power plants trying to do just that. Constellation, the largest nuclear operator in the US, announced plans to add nearly a gigawatt of new capacity across 11 existing nuclear reactors at six plants. And on October 5, the Department of Energy awarded a $4.2 billion loan to Vistra for previously announced upgrades at three plants.
Pushing existing reactors to produce more could help provide more clean power for data centers, quickly. But just how much additional power can we count on?
Upgrading equipment at existing nuclear power plants can allow them to reach a higher capacity; the process is called a power uprate. Operators have been doing this since the 1970s in the US, but it’s been less common in recent years as demand for electricity plateaued and cheap natural gas put financial pressure on nuclear power plants. Some plants closed, and putting in more money to produce more electricity didn’t make much sense at others. Between 2001 and 2010, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved over 80 uprates. Between 2011 and 2020, the number was 33.
But with the rise of AI and the related boom in electricity demand, there’s been a shift. We’re seeing shuttered plants like Palisades and Three Mile Island race to reopen. And existing plants are looking to uprate again.
Some uprates are minor, involving changes to instrument setpoints or calculations at the plant. But more major overhauls, which can boost reactor power by as much as 20%, require replacing plant equipment.
Generally, uprates involve using fuel that’s more highly enriched, or a higher volume of fresh fuel, in the nuclear reactor. That helps produce more steam, which is used to turn a turbine and generate electricity. To handle that additional energy, the main turbines and equipment such as pumps, motors, generators, and transformers are upgraded.
The most recent major uprate approved in the US was for three reactors at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama. A $475 million project saw that plant expand its power capacity by 14% between 2018 and 2019.
Things could pick up soon, though. Constellation announced plans this week to spend more than $4.3 billion on uprates to 11 reactors. The additional electricity will be enough to power roughly 700,000 US homes.