Texas aspires to also be #1 in advanced nuclear power
Texas A&M University now reportedly has the largest nuclear engineering research department, outpacing MIT.
Has the gauntlet been laid down?
We recently came across this news item from last November when Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the release of the final report of the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group. Just days later, he proclaimed that “Texas is the energy capital of the world, and we’re ready to be #1 in advanced nuclear power.”
That report (link here) was authored by a Working Group, created by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) at Abbott’s direction, that had been tasked with evaluating the state’s plan to build “a world-leading advanced nuclear power industry to enhance electric reliability and energy security, promote economic development, and unleash new opportunities for the growing Texas workforce.”
In an article posted in RealClear Energy, Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp recently announced that his university has surpassed even the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now has the nation’s largest nuclear engineering research department. He’s the same person who also announced that Texas A&M is offering land near its RELLIS Innovation and Technology campus, located on 2,400 acres in Bryan, TX, to several nuclear reactor companies to build small modular reactors (SMRs). One of those is Kairos Power which has announced that it will be one of at least four companies advancing what has become known as “The Energy Proving Ground” project.
Just last week in his “State of the State” address, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee proposed spending $92.6 million for several nuclear projects.
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