News Highlights

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Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States
This new National Academies’ report discusses how the US could support the successful commercialization of advanced nuclear reactors with near-term actions to establish policies and practices. Kirsty Gogan of LucidCatalyst was part of the committee that oversaw and wrote this report.

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Our Iowa wind study was cited in an important Wall Street Journal article about local opposition to wind and solar projects by Jennifer Hiller, published May 8, 2023.

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Beautiful Nuclear: Driving Deep Decarbonisation
Our report shows how nuclear energy helps meet all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. No other electricity generation technology can match this diversity of beneficial impacts. The report argues that the priority for preventing irreversible climate change is decarbonisation, not the creation of energy systems which are 100% dependent on renewables. It is critical to take a whole system approach to the energy transition and for evidence-based decision making. In the context of the increasing urgency to replace fossil fuels, the range of low carbon options must include nuclear.

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Hawkeye State Headwinds: Case Study of Local Opposition & Siting Challenges for More Wind Energy in Iowa

LucidCatalyst partnered with ClearPath to develop this study, led and implemented by John Herter and Ian Woodhouse of LucidCatalyst. Eric Ingersoll provided the inspiration that energy models must realistically reflect the true costs and risks associated with each energy source. Reaching Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require a massive infrastructure build-out of enough clean electricity generation while building the infrastructure necessary to electrify industry and transport along the way. Detailed computer models can optimize for the cheapest paths to achieve Net Zero but cannot easily account for the political feasibility and constraints ranging from local opposition to regulatory delays, supply chain issues, and workforce capacity.

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Designing the terawatt transition

Read this Lloyd's Register article—Kirsty Gogan and Eric Ingersoll, Managing Directors at LucidCatalyst, examine the role the global shipbuilding industry could play in producing low-cost hydrogen as the world looks towards zero-carbon fuels.

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Rethinking Deployment Scenarios for Advanced Reactors: Scalable Nuclear Energy for Zero-Carbon Synthetic Fuels and Products (EPRI)

A ground-breaking study released by EPRI, written by LucidCatalyst, identifies potential deployment paths for using advanced heat sources for producing zero-carbon liquid fuels.

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Nuclear Law: The Global Debate (IAEA)

This book by leading experts in the nuclear industry, focuses on current issues in the field and identifies potential areas for further development. LucidCatalyst's Missing Link report is highlighted in Chapter 6 "The Challenge of Climate Change—Complete Energy Transformation: No Nuclear, No Net Zero," by Tim Stone, and also in Chapter 13 "The Humanitarian Atom: The Role of Nuclear Power in Addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," by Sama Bilbao y Leon and John Lindberg.

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Assessment of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant for Zero-Carbon Electricity, Desalination, and Hydrogen Production

A report by researchers at Stanford, MIT, and LucidCatalyst demonstrates how delaying closure of the plant would reduce California’s carbon emissions, reduce dependency on natural gas, and save billions in power system costs, in addition to providing desalinated water, and low-cost clean hydrogen. LucidCatalyst's Eric Ingersoll and Justin Aborn were major contributors to this report. Read this Op-Ed by former energy secretaries Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz in the LA Times, as well as articles in The Economist, MIT News, Forbes, Bloomberg, and WNN. Furthermore, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm supports keeping Diablo open, according to Reuters. Governor Gavin Newsom may attempt to delay the closure, as reported by AP and the LA Times.

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Superhot Rock Geothermal – A Vision for Zero-Carbon Energy "Everywhere"

Superhot rock (SHR) has been called the “holy grail” of geothermal energy—because, in most of the world, SHR could provide competitive, zero-carbon, dispatchable power and support zero-carbon hydrogen fuel production. It is one of the very few high-energy-density, zero-carbon resources that could replace fossil energy around the globe. LucidCatalyst's John Herter and Eric Ingersoll contributed to this important Clean Air Task Force (CATF) report. 

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The UK's National Nuclear Lab Unveils Transformative Nuclear for Net Zero Modelling

LucidCatalyst contributed to this ground-breaking modelling report published by NNL demonstrating the role nuclear can play in delivering the UK’s net zero goals. This is the first time that such diverse, scalable and low-cost applications for nuclear technologies have been fully represented across the whole energy system.

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Advanced Reactors Economics and Markets 

In this paper, authors Charles Forsberg (MIT) and Eric Ingersoll (LucidCatalyst) argue that the viability of nuclear power ultimately depends on economics. They examine the key factors and markets that make projects viable. 

 

Our landmark report: Missing Link to a Livable Climate: Hydrogen Enabled Synthetic Fuels was featured in the Sunday Times, Business Green, and World Nuclear News. This report describes how the world can still meet the Paris goals of 1.5–2°C if sufficient, low-cost, clean hydrogen and synfuels are produced to replace oil and gas in shipping, aviation, and industry. We've just issued a short "Lucid Insights" version of this report.

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Large markets for advanced reactors that cost less than $3,000/kW

A study by LucidCatalyst for the ARPA-E MEITNER program is the first to derive the highest allowable capital cost for advanced reactors across four of the major power markets in the US in 2034. The study shows how advanced reactors can complement wind and solar. Together, these technologies drive down costs, reduce emissions, and improve performance in future US electricity grids.