As New York Governor Kathy Hochul announces a master plan for advanced nuclear development, the state’s energy research and development authority has joined Constellation on a grant proposal to help it pursue an early site permit for advanced nuclear reactors at its Nine Mile Point Clean Energy Center.
The creation of a Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development in New York is part of a USD1 billion proposal to achieve a “more sustainable and affordable future in New York State” was included in Hochuls’ 14 January State of the State address. It will be guided by the newly published Blueprint for Consideration of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The Blueprint – which was itself drawn up following public comments on a draft released at the Future Energy Economy Summit in September – envisages that the process to develop the Master Plan will take place over 2025 and 2026 and include opportunities for stakeholder involvement. A completed Master Plan is expected to be published by the end of 2026.
New York State will also co-lead a multi-state initiative facilitated through the National Association of State Energy Officials and the U. S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Portal for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear Energy (GAIN) Office ( DOE) on complex nuclear energy, scheduled to launch in February 2025, and Constellation Energy Corporation in pursuing federal exploration investment plans for the addition of several new complex nuclear reactors at Nine Mile Point, NYSERDA said.
NYSERDA’s cost-sharing investment is a critical first step in determining whether new nuclear power can become a reality in New York, Constellation said. If awarded, the DOE investment would be used to obtain an immediate site permit for Nine Mile Point, which would approve the site for long-term development of a nuclear power plant. The permit is valid for up to 20 years and the business may apply for a structure and operation permit at any time during the permit period. The DOE is expected to make decisions on award winners in early summer.
Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez said the company appreciates Hochul’s leadership and New York’s continued support for nuclear energy, which produces more than 20% of the state’s energy. “Constellation has worked in the past with NYSERDA to expand next-generation white hydrogen and fuel mobile technologies that use nuclear energy. Today, NYSERDA and Constellation are partnering again with a commitment to explore complex nuclear energy technologies and continue significant advances toward New York’s blank energy goals of economic progression,” he said.
New York has already supported the continued operation of Constellation’s three so-called upstate nuclear facilities – Nine Mile Point, RE Ginna and James A Fitzpatrick – explicitly recognising the zero-carbon contribution of the plants in its 2016 Clean Energy Standard as critical in enabling it to meet its climate change targets. Nine Mile Point, in Oswego, is home to two operating boiling water reactors, where the company began operating a first-of-its-kind 1 MW demonstration scale, nuclear-powered clean hydrogen production facility in 2023.
Last year, NYSERDA released a Request for Information to gauge community interest in activities to develop advanced nuclear energy technologies in the state.