Daily Update: Nuclear Gets Small To Meet Growing Global Energy Needs
Today is Thursday, June 6, 2024, and here’s your?curated selection of essential intelligence on financial markets and the global economy?from?S&P Global .?Subscribe?to be notified of each new?Daily?Update.?
Small modular reactors are popular with governments and researchers looking for low-carbon energy sources that can be widely distributed over an aging energy grid. Unfortunately, small modular reactors (SMRs) are less popular with energy providers and consumers. Very few SMRs are in operation, partly because nuclear energy has no natural constituency. Many environmentalists, who might be expected to favor an emissions-free energy source with no intermittency problems, retain a historical opposition to nuclear power. Meanwhile, many large energy companies prefer the lower construction costs and regulatory headaches of coal and natural gas plants. However, with growing energy demand and global emissions far from the targets that are aligned with the Paris Agreement on climate change, SMRs are getting a second look.
One of the companies generating the strongest interest from investors is Nano Nuclear Energy, which produces nuclear microreactors that can be delivered by truck and was listed on the Nasdaq in May. The company’s founder, Jay Yu, recently joined co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall on S&P Global’s “Energy Evolution” podcast to talk about his technology and the range of applications he sees for microreactors.
“Just think of diesel generators,” Yu said. “Essentially, we’re replacing diesel generators. Think of mining operations. Think of remote communities, island communities, natural disaster relief, military deployment; the use cases are almost endless here.”
Nano has partnered with scientists at the University of California, Berkeley and Cambridge University to produce two prototype reactors named Zeus and Odin. Zeus, created by the UC Berkeley scientists, is a solid-core battery reactor. Odin, created by the Cambridge scientists, is a low-pressure coolant reactor. Yu cautioned that these types of microreactors will not be ready for commercial applications until 2030 at the earliest, but he anticipates that concerns over energy security in the US will smooth adoption once the technology is ready and available.
In 2023, Oregon-based SMR-maker NuScale had the first SMR design certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the seventh reactor design cleared for use in the US. NuScale’s designs are larger than the microreactors Nano is developing but are much quicker to build and require less fuel than traditional nuclear power plants. NuScale already has 19 agreements to deploy SMR plants in 12 countries including the Czech Republic, Jordan, Poland and Romania.
Commercial SMR companies are fighting an uphill battle against popular perceptions of nuclear energy and a history of blown budgets and lengthy construction delays . Some researchers who study the energy transition believe that nuclear will be a marginal technology in the future energy grid due in large part to its relative cost. Advocates for nuclear energy have suggested that SMRs could be placed on the sites of decommissioned coal plants , creating jobs for plant workers and taking advantage of existing energy infrastructure.
Today is Thursday, June 6, 2024, and here is today’s essential intelligence.
Sustainability
Sustainability Insights: Decarbonizing Metals Part One: A Pressing Issue With Uncertain Fixes
The metal sector has attracted attention as one of biggest carbon emitters, prompting producers to increasingly set decarbonization targets. Nonetheless, steel and aluminum production remains dominated by relatively high-emission processes. Metal companies could achieve near-term decarbonization goals with increased use of scrap and direct reduced iron (DRI) technologies (though these are constrained by raw materials availability), efficiency improvements and renewable energy adoption.
—Read the article from S&P Global Ratings
Economy
Credit FAQ: Mexico's New Administration Faces Lagging Economic Growth And Weaknesses In Public Finances
On June 2, Mexican voters elected Claudia Sheinbaum as their next president and gave her political party, Morena, a substantial majority of seats in both chambers of Congress. They also elected more than 20,000 officials for national, state and local governments. The incumbent center-left Morena party, founded by outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will maintain its dominant political role since the 2018 national elections.
—Read the article from S&P Global Ratings
Capital Markets
领英推荐
US Banks' Overdraft Fee Income Hits 3-Year Low In Q1
US banks' overdraft fee income declined in the first quarter, hitting a three-year low. Overdraft fee income dropped to $1.36 billion in the first quarter from $1.41 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, the lowest level since at least the first quarter of 2021. Overdraft fee income has steadily declined since the fourth quarter of 2021, except for a couple of quarters, due to increased regulatory and competitive pressure.
—Read the article from S&P Global Market Intelligence
Global Trade
Listen: Field To Fork: US Grilling Season And Brazil’s Role In Beef Trade (Part 1)
Grilling season is underway in the US — the world's largest producer and consumer of beef. Even so, per capita consumption of beef in the US has halved over the last 50 years. The US can now produce more beef with fewer head of cattle, but it has become reliant on imported beef. And Brazil has a herd of some 235 million head and now supplies the world. In this first installment of a two-part series focusing on global beef and poultry markets, EMEA agriculture and food manager William Bland speaks with Americas agriculture managers John-Laurent Tronche and Rafael Savoia about these changing dynamics.
—Listen and subscribe to the podcast from S&P Global Commodity Insights
Energy & Commodities
UAE Gets Higher OPEC+ Crude Production Quota
The UAE successfully lobbied for a higher OPEC+ production quota that would allow OPEC's fourth-largest producer to pump an additional 300,000 b/d crude oil, phased in over the first nine months of 2025. At a meeting June 2, OPEC+ ministers agreed to extend a set of cuts totaling some 3.7 million b/d that had been phased in since October 2022 by a year, until the end of 2025. The exception to this was the UAE that will be allowed to gradually utilize its extra capacity from January. The country produced 2.95 million b/d oil in April, according to the Platts OPEC+ survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights. This was above its quota of 2.91 million b/d. .
—Read the article from S&P Global Commodity Insights
Technology & Innovation
Cable Industry Intertwining With Wireless
Cable operators' value lost from customers using alternative fixed wireless access service is greater than the earnings contributions from new mobile wireless subscribers. Charter Communications and Comcast are better positioned than other cable providers to benefit from their wholesale wireless agreement with Verizon and its high-quality network in rural markets. Smaller cable operators don't have the scale or negotiating leverage to develop wireless service with such strength. The cable industry has the potential to increase its mobile base significantly by 2027.
—Read the article from S&P Global Ratings
Chief Information Officer | Chief Technology Officer | VP of Software Engineering – I Lead with Empathy, Deliver results & Create business value
5 个月It's encouraging to see the renewed interest in SMRs given the urgent need to meet global emissions targets. As someone who's been in the tech industry for over two decades, I can appreciate the importance of innovative solutions to complex problems. Energy providers and consumers might be hesitant now, but with continued research and policy support, SMRs could play a crucial role in our sustainable future. Thanks for sharing this valuable perspective!
Perpetual Inventory Clerk at Macy's
5 个月Thanks for sharing
Perpetual Inventory Clerk at Macy's
5 个月Good to know!
Next Trend Realty LLC./wwwHar.com/Chester-Swanson/agent_cbswan
5 个月Great advice!.