A correction to the interpretation of the April Annual Energy Outlook says baseline and high electricity demand cases show small increases in nuclear generation and capacity, driven by planned restarts and uprates through 2030.
U.S. nuclear capacity is still far short of the administration’s stated expansion target, but the Energy Department’s April Annual Energy Outlook does not show a decline in output under its baseline and high electricity demand cases. A correction published in response to a June 29 opinion piece says those scenarios project small but meaningful increases in both nuclear generation and capacity from 2025 through 2050. The near-term capacity gains through 2030 are tied to the planned restart of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, the planned restart of a reactor at the Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania, and planned uprates at the Salem Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey. The clarification revises an earlier characterization that the outlook showed no growth or a slight decline, while leaving intact the broader gap between official projections and the administration’s goal of expanding U.S. nuclear generation capacity from roughly 100 gigawatts in 2024 to 400 gigawatts by 2050.