In executive order, Ayotte reiterates commitment to ‘advanced nuclear’

Gov. Kelly Ayotte issued an executive order Thursday directing the state Department of Energy to create a “nuclear roadmap” for New Hampshire.

“Increased use of nuclear generation could significantly reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions while providing reliable household power,” the order reads. 

It directs the New Hampshire Department of Energy to identify a path toward implementing “advanced nuclear electric generation,” which usually refers to emerging nuclear technologies such as small modular nuclear reactors, in New Hampshire.

“The DOE shall also identify any roadblocks to nuclear development in the state and identify strategies for removing them,” it reads.

Advanced nuclear technologies, like small modular reactors, are still not commercially available in the United States. Test reactors are under construction elsewhere in the nation, but experts say we are years away from seeing them deployed at scale.

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The order also directs the department to study ways to insulate ratepayers from delays and cost overruns, both of which have plagued past nuclear projects, including New Hampshire’s Seabrook Station.

In her State of the State address in February, Ayotte billed new nuclear generation as a forward-looking way to address the high energy costs faced by New Hampshire residents. New Hampshire is not a stranger to nuclear power: More than half of the energy generated in the state already comes from Seabrook Station. 

Thanks to Seabrook, New Hampshire already generates more power than it consumes. In her executive order, Ayotte writes that increasing the share of nuclear power on the regional grid would lower rates more effectively than increasing reliance on renewable energy sources. 

Her office did not immediately respond to a request for the details of that research. But on this idea, experts are divided. Some clean energy advocates point to wind, solar generation, and battery storage as a faster and cheaper route to increasing local generation with technology that is already in use.

The order calls for investigation into whether nuclear developers would be interested in partnering with utilities to develop generation in the state, a measure that could reference bills currently before the Legislature that propose allowing utilities to own certain nuclear power generators.

It directs the Department of Energy to produce a preliminary road map to new nuclear in New Hampshire within six months, and a final report within two years.