PREPARING FORA NUCLEAR SHIFTWHY UTILITIES MUST POWER UP THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS WHITE PAPER2PREPARING FOR A NUCLEAR SHIFTWHY UTILITIES MUST POWER UP THEIR SUPPLY CHAINSIn an increasingly electrified world, carbon-free power will play a vital role in addressing climate change. Utilities must address this challenge swiftly as the window to meet global temperature targets is quickly closing.While renewable energy sources will play a massive role in the clean energy transition, utilities need the complementary stability and resiliency of nuclear energy to guarantee cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power. A best-in-class nuclear supply chain drives down costs, mitigates risks and ensures compliance. By empowering nuclear supply chain and procurement teams with expertise, tools and digitalization, utilities can help enable nuclear power as the bridge to a clean energy future.THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITIONAs we pivot to clean energy, the world turns its attention to the most carbon-intensive industries, with the power sector becoming a specific target.1 In response, electric utilities have begun to shift their portfolios from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, relying primarily on wind and solar to transform their generation fleets.2 In the U.S. alone, utilities have planned over 12 GW of wind and 15 GW of solar additions to their portfolios, which accounts for roughly 70% of all new generating capacity for 2021.3 In parallel, 2.7 GW of coal generation capacity will be retired in 2021 as utilities seek to abandon their most carbon-intensive assets.4 THE ROLE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY While extensive renewable energy buildouts help bring nations closer to clean energy targets, there are some roadblocks on the path to carbon neutrality and 100% clean electricity. Utilities working to increase their clean energy capacity face three key challenges:2021 Generating Capacity Additions - EIA 39%31%16%11%3%SolarWindNat ural GasBatteriesNuclearSource: EIA – Today in Energy WHITE PAPER3PREPARING FOR A NUCLEAR SHIFTWHY UTILITIES MUST POWER UP THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS1. The intermittency of renewable energy sources;2. The importance of reliability; and3. The need for significant electric grid improvements. Renewable energy sources require a complementary partner to address these issues. Existing nuclear energy assets offer reliable, resilient, and carbon-free power, filling in the gaps in our current renewable energy infrastructure and serving as a bridge to the clean energy future — a future that must also include the next generation of nuclear technologies.While nuclear energy does generate carbon-free electricity, there is debate as to its environmental sustainability. Out of concern for the planetary impacts of nuclear waste, the European Union has excluded nuclear power from its sustainable finance taxonomy, preventing nuclear investments from being labeled sustainable.5 Most states in the U.S. also exclude nuclear power from their “clean energy” standards. However, the Biden administration plans to include nuclear power to reach climate goals more quickly in its clean electricity ambitions at the national level.6,7 While concerns around nuclear waste are justified, the world needs reliable, carbon-free energy to complement renewables without sacrificing environmental progress. THE COMPLEMENTARY NATURE OF NUCLEAR AND RENEWABLE ENERGYWind and solar are variable by nature, and in an industry where service reliability is paramount to customer retention, interrupted service can be extremely costly. For example, in the CAISO region, renewables generate large amounts of power during the day, but before sunrise and after sunset, natural gas is ramped up to ensure supply continuity. This intermittency is particularly problematic because of its inverse relationship with demand. When electricity is in high demand, renewable resources are at their worst.8,9 CAISO Demand and Supply of Electricity (MW) 3/31/20Nuc learNatural gasRenewablesDemandDashed Line-Supply / Solid Line-Demand2500020000150001000050006:3012:3018:300Sources: Stanford, California ISO WHITE PAPER4PREPARING FOR A NUCLEAR SHIFTWHY UTILITIES MUST POWER UP THEIR SUPPLY CHAINSAll the while, nuclear energy remains consistent as a source of baseload power. While many utilities have explored energy storage to enable sustained usage of renewable energy, these technologies are still decades away from being cost-competitive.10,11 Until battery storage can economically mitigate intermittency, utilities will depend on more consistent, reliable generation sources like nuclear, coal and natural gas to stabilize their generation.12 While coal and natural gas help address reliability and affordability concerns, they simultaneously erode efforts to reduce emissions. Coal and natural gas plants are also less reliable than nuclear energy. While coal and natural gas plants operate at capacity 40% and 57% of the time, respectively, nuclear plants do so more than 90% of the time.13 Using foss