We need federal action, but not a blank check, to counter the premature retirement of nuclear plants

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) advocates for federal action to stop the premature closure of U.S. nuclear plants, which provide over half of the country's clean electricity. Since 2012, nine reactors (over 6 GW) have retired early due to market conditions and low natural gas and renewable prices, leading to increased regional emissions. CATF supports legislative options like the Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act of 2021 and the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA), provided they include 'guardrails' such as financial stress tests and reverse auctions to ensure support is limited to truly at-risk units.

• Since 2012, economic factors including electricity market conditions and the low cost of renewables and natural gas have led to the premature retirement of nine nuclear reactors, representing more than 6 GW of firm clean energy capacity.
• The premature closure of nuclear units has negatively impacted decarbonization efforts by increasing regional emissions and causing economic distress for local communities.
• CATF advocates for a federal support system for nuclear plants that incorporates a two-part oversight process consisting of a financial stress test to determine qualification and a reverse auction for a limited number of credits.

APA

Rampal, B., & Griffith, L. B. (2021). We need federal action, but not a blank check, to counter the premature retirement of nuclear plants. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2021/07/we-need-federal-action-but-not-a-blank-check-to-counter-the-premature-retirement-of-nuclear-plants/

Chicago

Rampal, Brett, and Lindsey Baxter Griffith. We need federal action, but not a blank check, to counter the premature retirement of nuclear plants. Clean Air Task Force, 2021. https://www.catf.us/2021/07/we-need-federal-action-but-not-a-blank-check-to-counter-the-premature-retirement-of-nuclear-plants/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Rampal |first1=Brett |last2=Griffith |first2=Lindsey Baxter |title=We need federal action, but not a blank check, to counter the premature retirement of nuclear plants |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=22 July 2021 |url=https://www.catf.us/2021/07/we-need-federal-action-but-not-a-blank-check-to-counter-the-premature-retirement-of-nuclear-plants/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rampal2021need, author = {Rampal, Brett and Griffith, Lindsey Baxter}, title = {{We need federal action, but not a blank check, to counter the premature retirement of nuclear plants}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://www.catf.us/2021/07/we-need-federal-action-but-not-a-blank-check-to-counter-the-premature-retirement-of-nuclear-plants/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }