Texas Teaches Climate Change Lesson

Nuclear power constitutes a little less than 5% of Texas’ total electric capacity.  It is surprising then to know that nuclear ends up producing almost 10% of the state’s electricity.  Only natural gas and coal powered plants zap out more juice than nuclear power plants in the state.  Seemingly insignificant, but a winter storm in mid-March 2021 enveloped the Texas nuclear power sector in a storm of controversy  -  no pun intended. 

One of two nuclear reactors shut down at the South Texas Nuclear Power Station outside of Houston, sending politicians and activities into a frenzy of finder pointing.  Thanks to apparently myopic decision making in by its majority owner, NRG Energy (NRG:  NYSE), this particular plant had not been fortified with protections against exceptionally cold weather.  Consequently, pumps froze and could not deliver feedwater to cool the reactors. The South Texas plant shut down automatically.

 The failure is not surprising in a state where climate change denial runs rampant.  Recent weather conditions in Texas are quite characteristic of climate change:  wide swings in temperature, violent storms and unusual weather events.    

There was no concern for safety at South Texas, but the shutdown took out about 1,375 megawatts of generating capacity, enough to power over two million Texas households.  The state’s only other nuclear facility, the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant near Dallas, remained up and running.  Still the unexpected shut down at South Texas compounded an otherwise trying situation for the Texas power complex.

The fate of the South Texas plant may also point to a need in the nuclear power industry to get beyond pressurized water reactors.  Originally developed to power nuclear submarines, the design is dependent upon availability of large water volumes at narrow temperature range.  In this nuclear reactor design, the primary coolant is water that is pumped under higher pressure to the reactor core.  The water is heated in the core as atoms of the nuclear fuel under go fission.  Then the hot water flows still under high pressure to a steam generator.  Such pressurized water reactors represent a majority of the world’s nuclear power plants.

Development is underway on a number of alternative nuclear technologies.  The next few posts explore the commercial potential in several promising nuclear power technology projects.

 

Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the companies mentioned herein.