In spite of recent hurdles, the nuclear energy industry is giving a massive boost to the U.S. Southeast, according to a new report.
The study — funded by a grant from the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration and led by energy trade association E4 Carolinas — estimates that the five-state southeastern region produces $3.7 billion in annual state and local taxes and $13.7 billion in pay to workers. That’s part of nearly $43 billion in annual economic impacts from nuclear.
funded by a grant
The report is one of the “most comprehensive evaluations of the nuclear industry from a geographic standpoint, certainly in the last decade,” said Jeff Merrifield, a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission member who co-chairs the Southeast Nuclear Advisory Council formed to support research and planning tied to the Commerce funding.
The study arrives days after a nuclear expansion milestone at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. The country’s newest nuclear reactor, Unit 4, reached self-sustaining nuclear fission, which is key to bringing it online. The unit may be the last major reactor built in the U.S. for years as the industry navigates volatile costs and power prices, but smaller projects are seeing interest across the country.
The study
nuclear fission
