The Nuclear Power Shortcut That Could Add Gigawatts to the U.S. Grid
Offers Another 17 Million SPR Barrels as Fuel Crisis Deepens Felicity Bradstock is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City.
She writes for energy websites and covers several other industries, as well as writing… The process of increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial nuclear power plant may operate is called a power uprate.
Several nuclear plants are now considering applying for permission to uprate operations to produce more power in the mid-term to bridge the gap while more nuclear capacity is being developed.
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)regulatesthe maximum power level at which a commercial nuclear power plant may operate.
The permitted power level is stated in the license and technical specifications for the plant and cannot be altered unless approved by the NRC.
nuclear plants can request permission from the NRC to increase their power output, or “uprate”.
The NRC will determine whether to grant a plant uprate permission depending on whether it can be achieved safely.
To increase power output, nuclear operators must modify the nuclear reactor’s instrumentation, controls, and power-generation systems.
Over the past two decades, the NRC has approved uprates that have provided an extra 6 GW of power to the U.S.
electricity grid, which is equivalent to six large reactors.
The agency is considering uprate requests from various operators that massively boost the country’s nuclear power capacity.
To safely uprate operations, plant operators must upgrade components such as controls, turbines, and pumps within their nuclear facilities to generate more electricity.
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