INL Mulling Building New Nuclear Reactor to Energize Net-Zero Campus Microgrid
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is exploring designing, building, and operating an onsite nuclear reactor resource as part of a broader effort to achieve net-zero emissions at its sprawling campus in Idaho Falls by 2031.
Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), an entity that manages and operates the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, on April 29 launched a request for information (RFI) from industry, utilities, energy users, and other stakeholders that could inform how it can integrate nuclear-generated power and heat into a campus microgrid. The initiative falls under the April 2021–launched INL Net-Zero Program, which aims to eliminate or offset all emissions from the campus where 5,400 employees work.
The quest to achieve net-zero in less than a decade will serve as a crucial demonstration of a decarbonization pathway that would utilize “technology innovations, collaborations, increased efficiencies, and novel approaches,” BEA suggested. The city-like INL campus already has 100 miles of transmission lines, a landfill, a 605-vehicle fleet, 357 buildings, and hundreds of miles of roads.…
