Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Advanced Nuclear Technology’s Role in a Decarbonized Future

The document advocates for the integration of advanced nuclear energy into a diversified zero-carbon energy portfolio to mitigate the risks and costs associated with relying solely on variable renewables. It highlights nuclear's advantages in power density, dispatchability, and its ability to produce carbon-free hydrogen for hard-to-electrify sectors. While acknowledging challenges such as high costs, waste disposal, and public perception, the author suggests that standardized construction, advanced reactor designs, and supportive federal policies—specifically the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA)—can make nuclear a scalable and cost-effective tool for climate mitigation.

• Relying exclusively on wind, solar, and battery storage for a zero-carbon grid in the Western United States would require an immense and costly amount of storage. Modeling suggests the region would need roughly 33 TWH of generation equivalent storage, which is approximately 825 times the current capacity of pumped hydroelectric reservoirs, with a potential capital cost of $1.65 Trillion.
• Nuclear energy offers significant land-use advantages over renewables, requiring 100 to 1,000 times less space per unit of energy produced. This high power density reduces the need for extensive transmission capacity and may help avoid the intense siting battles often associated with large-scale wind and solar infrastructure.
• Nuclear technology can address the decarbonization of sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy transport and industrial processes (e.g., cement and steel), by providing carbon-free heat and efficiently producing hydrogen.
• High costs and construction delays in recent US and European nuclear projects are not inevitable. Analysis indicates that costs can be reduced by at least one-third through the adoption of best project management practices, such as completing designs before construction and building multiple standardized units at a single site.
• Advanced reactor designs (including fast reactors, liquid metal, molten salt, and gas-cooled reactors) could further lower costs and improve safety. A study of eight advanced reactor offerings estimated a levelized cost of energy averaging $60/MWH, with some as low as $40/MWH.
• To make nuclear a scalable option for decarbonization, the author recommends several policy actions: preserving the existing nuclear fleet, creating market demand via government support, supporting R&D for business models and hydrogen production, harmonizing international safety regulations, and resolving waste challenges.

APA

Cohen, A. (2020). Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Advanced Nuclear Technology’s Role in a Decarbonized Future. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/21092857/Armond-Cohen-Testimony-March-3-2020.pdf

Chicago

Cohen, Armond. Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Advanced Nuclear Technology’s Role in a Decarbonized Future. Clean Air Task Force, 2020. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/21092857/Armond-Cohen-Testimony-March-3-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Cohen |first1=Armond |title=Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Advanced Nuclear Technology’s Role in a Decarbonized Future |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=3 March 2020 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/21092857/Armond-Cohen-Testimony-March-3-2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cohen2020building, author = {Cohen, Armond}, title = {{Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Advanced Nuclear Technology’s Role in a Decarbonized Future}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/21092857/Armond-Cohen-Testimony-March-3-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }