If the US does not work out how to prepare uranium fuel for advanced reactors, the startup of first-of-a-kind plants on which spent billions of dollars have been spent will be delayed, the Breakthrough Institute research centre said.
Construction of subsequent plants will slip into the future, and the goal of a zero-carbon energy system by mid-century, already hard, will become harder.
Breakthrough said fuel was needed for reactors designed to work well with wind and solar on the grid, to replace coal plants, and to do other kinds of work besides making electricity – all in the quest for a zero-carbon economy.
“Construction of subsequent plants will slip into the future, and the goal of a zero-carbon energy system by mid-century, already hard, will become harder,” Breakthrough said.
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