Repowering Coal

Part of a joint series by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Terra Praxis, a second blog by John Jacobs and Jon-Michael Murray has now been published, focusing on how to streamline nuclear power plant construction. By promoting standardization, embracing modular construction, and reducing regulatory burdens, we can make coal-to-nuclear transitions feasible and economically viable.

Recent article by Lee Harris in the Financial Times highlights Microsoft's partnership with Terra Praxis to develop an AI tool designed to streamline nuclear site permits, potentially reducing costs and timelines significantly. This innovative AI utilizes existing regulatory documents to generate new license applications, which could cut the time for drafting early site permit applications from years to just hours or days. At Terra Praxis, we see this solution as a powerful way to address challenges such as AI's electricity demands, accelerating clean energy adoption, and repurposing fossil fuel infrastructure. Notably, the tool is capable of operating outside the US and has been tested in various languages and regulatory contexts.

Part of a joint series by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Terra Praxis, the blog written by John Jacobs and Jon-Michael Murray highlights how growing energy demand, advances in reactor technology, and recent legislative and regulatory progress are fueling the momentum that could open the door to repowering retiring coal plants with nuclear.

Terra Praxis's REPOWER strategy is featured in the recent NucNet article, "The Promises and Pitfalls of a Potential Energy Revolution." The article highlights that coal-to-nuclear transitions offer a promising yet complex route for nations aiming for sustainable energy futures, with hundreds of sites available for reactor conversion. It also emphasizes that securing funding and effectively utilizing incentives will be crucial for success.

Terra Praxis Founding Director and Co-CEO, Kirsty Gogan, was one of the select speakers at the White House Summit on Domestic Nuclear Deployment. Presenting on a panel about innovative end uses of nuclear energy, she offered leaders information about applications and the value proposition for decarbonizing oil and gas and other industrials.

The series features interviews with more than 30 top thought leaders, including journalist Michael Shellenberger, historian Patty Limerick, political scientist Roger Pielke Jr., civil rights leader Jennifer Hernandez, nuclear activist Chris Keefer, author Meredith Angwin, former IEA director Nobuo Tanaka, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León, Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal founder Madi Hilly, Terra Praxis Founding Partner and Co-CEO Kirsty Gogan, and many others. Each episode spotlights the misplaced incentives and excessive spending on weather-dependent generation sources that have weakened the grid and made electricity less affordable and less reliable in the U.S. and around the world.

"I am delighted to share that I have started a new role at Microsoft as the Director of Nuclear Technologies," Manoharan said. "Microsoft is proud to be part of the global effort to decarbonize the electricity sector and empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. I am eager to contribute to this vision!"

Visit the Microsoft Experience Center in Singapore to see the Terra Praxis - Microsoft collaboration in action. There you will be able to see the interactive exhibit and explore how you can REPOWER and decarbonize coal power plants, the single largest source of carbon emissions.

On December 12, The Wall Street Journal featured Microsoft's leadership in advancing nuclear to meet energy demand and how "the tech company aims to expedite the nuclear regulatory process using AI". The article, "Microsoft Targets Nuclear to Power AI Operations", describes how Microsoft and Terra Praxis are working to speed the nuclear project site permitting process using AI. "Microsoft employees provide the coding; Terra Praxis supplies nuclear regulatory expertise".

Terra Praxis Founding Partner and Co-CEO Eric Ingersoll spoke at Enlit Europe on repowering coal-fired plants with advanced nuclear sources and streamlining these processes with AI and digital solutions.

Terra Praxis welcomes the leadership being demonstrated by Microsoft in recognizing the critical role of advanced nuclear in the clean energy transition. On “Energy Day” at COP28, Microsoft published a comprehensive new policy brief on the vital role of nuclear energy in meeting our clean energy goals: “Accelerating a Carbon-Free Future: Microsoft Policy Brief on Advanced Nuclear and Fusion Energy.” The strategic collaboration with Terra Praxis and its work on REPOWER is cited as an example of how Microsoft is leveraging digital technology to support an inclusive decarbonized energy system.

For third year in a row Vox has included Terra Praxis among 11 of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations fighting climate change.

Terra Praxis and partners participated in this 3-day conference that gathered 15,000 energy professionals, 700 exhibitors, and 500 speakers who presented on the latest industry developments helping to accelerate the energy transition.

Terra Praxis participated in the IAEA 2nd Conference on Climate Change. The conference themes included the mitigation challenge and implications for the energy sector; the climate-resilience of energy systems; the roles of existing, evolutionary, and innovative nuclear power systems as well as the integration of nuclear–renewable energy systems; enabling environments for realizing the full potential of nuclear power; and international cooperation and stakeholder engagement.

The mining and burning of coal is worsening the effects of the climate crisis. We all know that. However, can we do something about the coal processing plants themselves? Can these dirty coal plants be retrofitted to process fossil-free energy instead of dirty energy? It may surprise you to know that the answer is yes. This article was written by Anthropocene for We Don't Have Time, after the Reuters SMR & Advanced Reactor Conference, where Kirsty Gogan highlighted the need to optimize existing infrastructure, utilize current transmission systems, transfer skills, and act swiftly to mitigate risks of the energy transition.