18 May 2021
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Illinois will need to expand its nuclear capacity - not just maintain existing plants - in order to meet climate goals, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has concluded. Keeping the state's existing nuclear plants open at the same time as investing in advanced nuclear technology and renewable energy is the most economical path to zero-carbon that generates the lowest life-cycle carbon emissions, the study has found.
Exelon's Byron plant (Image: Exelon)
The report,
Economic and Carbon Impacts of Potential Illinois Nuclear Plant Closures: The Cost of Closures, was prepared by researchers and students at the university's department of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering (NPRE) and led by Kathryn Huff - who has recently been appointed principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the US Department of Energy - and Madicken Munk. The researchers modelled the state's electricity grid and conducted simulations of a range of potential economic and policy mixes to explore the effects of the premature closure of four nuclear units at the Byron and Dresden plants and identify the most economical route to achieving emissions targets.