NextEra eyes restart opportunity for shuttered Iowa plant
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The single-unit 615 MWe boiling water reactor plant in Iowa was taken out of service in 2020 after over 45 years of operation. The plant was the only operating nuclear unit in Iowa and had been producing around 9.2% of the state's electric generation and 19% of its emission-free electricity, but the decision to close it was made in 2018 when utility Alliant Energy and owner NextEra Energy Resources agreed to shorten their existing power purchase agreement by five years, ending in 2020 rather than 2025. The plant had been scheduled to shut in October 2020, but did not return to service after a severe storm in August that year damaged its cooling towers. The reactor itself was not damaged.
"I think there would be opportunities and a lot of demand for the market if we were able to do something with Duane Arnold," CEO John Ketchum told investors in response to questions during the company's second quarter results announcement on 24 June, although bringing a nuclear plant back into service would need "a lot of thought" and assessment of risks, he added.
"So sure, we're looking at it," he said. "We would only do it if we could do it in a way that is essentially risk free with plenty of mitigants around the approach. There are a few things that we would have to work through, but yes, we are. We are looking at it."
The reactor has been defuelled - all of its fuel is now in an on-site dry storage facility - but the buildings are not scheduled to be demolished until 50 years have passed. This deferred approach to decommissioning, with the facility placed into a safe storage configuration with eventual dismantling and decontamination activities taking place after residual radioactivity has decayed, is sometimes referred to as SAFESTOR.
The threat of premature closure of US nuclear generating capacity - and the resulting loss of its carbon-free generation attributes - has led to policy reforms and support mechanisms at the state and federal level to ensure that plants that might otherwise shut down can continue to operate.
Of those plants that have already closed, one - Palisades, in Michigan - is being prepared for a restart by now-owner Holtec International, with support from federal loan guarantees. Palisades is set to be the first power reactor to be returned to commercial operation after its being declared shut down, but may not be the last: Constellation Energy CEO Joe Dominguez also did not rule out a restart of the shut-down unit 1 at the Three Mile Island, which closed in 2019 in comments to investors earlier this year.
Tailwinds
NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, the USA's largest electric utility, and NextEra Energy Resources, which it describes as the world's largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar. It also, through its subsidiaries, generates power from seven commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
NextEera Energy Resources' renewables and storage backlog increased by more than 3000 MW during what had been the company's second-best-ever quarter, including 860 MW from agreements with Google to meet its data centre power demand, Ketchum said.
