CHINA’S EDGE ON NUCLEAR POWER: China is 10-15 years ahead of the U.S. in deploying fourth-generation nuclear reactors, the think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which focuses on science and tech sector issues, said in a new report this morning.
The points of interest: China currently has 27 nuclear reactors currently under construction, the report notes. The average construction timeline for each reactor is about seven years, much shorter than in most other nations. China is also further ahead in launching small modular reactors.
In December, China brought online the world’s first fourth-generation nuclear reactors – meaning that they have advanced features. The facility, the Shidaowan-1 power plant in Shidao Bay, includes two high-temperature, helium gas-cooled modular pebble bed reactors.
The conclusion: The report, written by ITIF vice president for global innovation policy Stephen Ezell, concludes that China’s rapid ascent is primarily due to the government’s “coherent national strategy toward nuclear power.” The government has eased the permitting and regulatory processes for new nuclear projects and provided developers with access to “extensive” government subsidies and low-interest loans.
The U.S. needs a similar approach, the report says.
The comparison: The U.S has struggled to bring new nuclear reactors online, threatening its status as the world’s largest nuclear power producer. In the last 10 years, the U.S has completed just two new nuclear reactors. The reactors, at the Plant Vogtle facility in Georgia, were years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. The Biden administration has called for tripling nuclear capacity by 2050.
China has nearly tripled its nuclear capacity over the past 10 years, adding the same amount of capacity that took the U.S. nearly 40 years to build out.
Read more from our Breanne Deppisch here.
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BIDEN PREPARED TO TAP SPR IF GAS PRICES RISE: White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein said in an interview with the Financial Times that the administration is prepared to again tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if gas prices rise this summer.
“We will do everything we can to make sure that the market is supplied well enough to ensure as low price as possible for American consumers,” he said.
He also added that “we have enough in the SPR if it’s necessary.”
A spike in gas prices would be a major threat to President Joe Biden’s reelection. The White House maintains that its previous SPR releases brought down prices at the pump. Any further such moves, though, would provoke additional outrage from congressional Republicans, who’ve said the administration harmed energy security by selling oil from the reserve.
In recent months, the Department of Energy has been refilling the reserve. Hochstein said that purchases would continue into next year, until “we think that the SPR has the volume that it needs again to serve its original purpose of energy security.”
BIDEN-SAUDI RELATIONSHIP ‘A HUNDRED TIMES BETTER’: An unnamed Saudi Arabian official told the Financial Times that the kingdom’s relationship with the U.S. is “a hundred times better” now than when Biden took office.
That’s the key quote from the story, which is an in-depth look at the significant thaw in U.S.-Saudi Arabia diplomacy following Biden’s pledge to impose “consequences” on the kingdom after it cut oil production just ahead of the 2022 elections.
As related in the story, one major factor in the improvement is the Biden administration’s desire to keep Saudi Arabia from siding with Russia in its war with Ukraine. Biden officials also wanted to prevent the kingdom from falling under China’s sway. They also sought its cooperation in handling Iran.
Key figures: The FT reports that key figures in relations between the two countries are Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa; National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; and Hochstein.
API’S POLICY WISHLIST: The American Petroleum Institute released a list of five policy recommendations today, what it called a “roadmap” for presidential candidates ahead of the first debate.
The five action items are:
- Repealing the Environmental Protection Agency’s tailpipe emissions rules, as well as the administration’s fuel economy rules.
- Lifting the Department of Energy’s pause on new LNG export approvals.
- Replacing the administration’s plans for oil and gas leasing on federal lands.
- Permitting reform.
- No tax hikes on investment in oil and gas.
TEXAS CLEAN HYDROGEN PLANT FACES ENVIRONMENTALIST PUSHBACK: A clean hydrogen project on the Texas coast is facing criticism from local interests and environmentalists, E&E News reports, illustrating the difficulties the Biden administration faces in its efforts to spur the growth of clean hydrogen.
Avina Clean Hydrogen Inc, which bills itself as a pioneer in green hydrogen, is aiming to build a facility in Corpus Christi to draw millions of gallons of water from the Neuces River and split it via electrolysis from zero-carbon hydrogen, a key ingredient for ammonia. The produced ammonia would then be exported.
Local groups have cited an estimate that the plant will require 4 million more gallons of water a year than it has contracted for, straining local water supplies. Avina CEO Vishal Shah, though, called that calculation “complete misinformation.”
ICYMI: SELF-DESCRIBED GOP ENVIRONMENTALIST GARRET GRAVES RETIRING: Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves said Friday afternoon that he won’t seek reelection. Redistricting had made his district favorable to Democrats, and he decided against running against another Republican in a different district.
Graves received significant coverage in Daily on Energy in recent years because he was the top Republican on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s select climate change committee. He represents the 6th Congressional District, a coastal area affected by sea level rise. He had described himself as “ a conservative, an environmentalist, and practical.”
“The consequences of redistricting will affect Louisiana’s first opportunity in history to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,” Graves said Friday, highlighting the importance of the committee’s work to the state’s ports and commerce.
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