Blog Post: Oak Ridge Maps Every Potential Nuclear Plant Site in Contiguous US
Ever wondered how much power nuclear plants could generate if one were built at every suitable location in the country? According to a project researched by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the answer turns out to be about 515 gigawatts.To help power providers evaluate potential sites for new reactors, advanced coal plants and concentrated solar facilities, the lab created the Oak Ridge Siting Analysis for power Generation Expansion (OR-SAGE). Drawing from GIS data covering the entire contiguous U.S., it maps potential plant locations that meet a range of criteria.
For
large scale nuclear plants, those include the availability of cooling
water and land. OR-SAGE also takes into account population density,
protected lands, seismic activity, military bases, airports, oil
pipelines, refineries, future population growth, potential changes to
water availability and, to a limited extent, the potential for the use
of shoreline cooling and municipal wastewater. While the report
emphasizes that plant siting is generally a regional process affected by
proximity to load demand and many other factors, the data will make it
easier to compare and contrast different generation options in the
future."OR-SAGE plant capacity estimate indicates that states in a significant portion of the country can support siting at least 10 GW(e) in large reactor facilities with no siting challenges," the report read.
It is available for download in its entirety from ORNL.
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