Governors from 11 states, working through the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), have launched the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative to propel a more standardized, scalable approach to deliver advanced nuclear power capacity rapidly, safely and cost-effectively to ensure consumers and businesses across the U.S. have reliable and affordable electricity.
The 11 states leading the effort announced October 10 are co-chairs New York, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Wyoming, and participating states Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
“The new Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative is critical to moving new nuclear projects forward across the country,” said David Terry, NASEO President. “The initiative is among the most important actions taken collectively by states to date to catalyze investment in historic levels of firm, clean electric power development to serve consumers, businesses and the nation as a whole for decades to come.”
NASEO last month issued a Request for Information to provide states with information on a structure for an advanced nuclear project “order book” strategy, including the status and use cases for different nuclear technologies, and investment and coordination models.
The order book approach moves away from one-off projects to propel widespread market adoption of the most viable technologies that can be deployed across multiple states. This includes assessing the readiness of different advanced reactor designs to meet different power needs identified by states, which will speed project development and lower costs. NASEO, Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear coordinated with the states to advance the RFI.
A cornerstone of the overall First Mover initiative is forming public-private partnerships with interested utilities, nuclear technology developers, project developers, energy end-users (e.g., consumers, data centers, manufacturers), investors and others. NASEO and the First Mover states are working with the U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Congress to accelerate advanced nuclear projects.
About the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative
The First Mover initiative, directed by state energy offices, is led by state co-chairs New York, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Wyoming, and participating states Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. The governors of these states are committed to delivering advanced nuclear power rapidly, safely, and cost-effectively to ensure consumers and businesses have reliable, affordable, sustainable electricity for years to come.
These states seek to accelerate advanced nuclear projects by reducing financial and technology risks, devising supportive market adoption policies, defining supply chain needs, streamlining federal permitting, developing coordinated procurement options, exploring state-federal-private financing structures, and creating public-private partnerships.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced New York’s participation in the initiative during her “State of the State Address” in January. “New York is proud to co-lead the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, which demonstrates our commitment to the exploration of innovative technologies to achieve a reliable and affordable electric system for New York families,” Hochul said. “New York looks forward to partnering with other states that want to find ways to meet growing energy demand, pursue economic development opportunities, and who share the same vision for a sustainable energy future.”
“The state of Indiana is committed to identifying the strongest pathways for advancing new nuclear projects,” said Indiana Gov. Mike Braun. “By co-leading the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, Indiana will be able to facilitate innovative new partnerships across states and industry, identify supportive policy mechanisms, and develop new tools for decreasing project risk.”
About the National Association of State Energy Officials
The National Association of State Energy Officials is the only national nonprofit association for governor-designated energy officials from each of the 56 U.S. states and territories. Formed by the states in 1986, NASEO facilitates sharing information and best practices among state energy officials, serves as a resource for and about State Energy Offices, and advocates the interests of State Energy Offices to Congress and federal agencies.
—This content was contributed by the National Association of State Energy Officials.
