Statement from Third Way Senior Vice President for Climate and Energy Josh Freed on Major Announcements from TerraPower and from Google, Microsoft, and Nucor Consortium
WASHINGTON—Third Way Senior Vice President from Climate and Energy Josh Freed issued the following statement in response to two pivotal announcements for advanced clean energy technologies.
The first, from Google, Microsoft, and Nucor, creates a new demand aggregation consortium to speed the deployment of advanced nuclear and other emerging technologies. The second, from TerraPower, sets a timeline for the first US construction of a next generation nuclear power plant, beginning this June in Wyoming.
“Russia and China have spent years running circles around the US on nuclear development and deployment. They’ve maintained a laser focus on building reactors around the world, and it’s paid off.
Our adversaries are now nuclear energy leaders—but today’s announcements mark the end of that leadership. This is a huge day for advanced nuclear in America and, more broadly, for clean energy deployment.
With news from TerraPower and from Google, Microsoft, and Nucor, the US takes a major step forward to build and deploy advanced nuclear here at home. Both projects will make developing and deploying advanced reactors more affordable—and make decarbonizing our power sector much more feasible.
These projects would not have been possible without the work of the Biden Administration. In the words of U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the Administration has worked to make 2024 is “a year of action for nuclear.” Today’s announcements prove the importance of that commitment and show that the private sector is ready to step up to the plate too.
These projects solve a pressing deployment challenge by connecting the development of clean firm energy with ready and willing end users. Both efforts demonstrate significant progress towards the vision of advanced nuclear Third Way has long fought for.
Through continued partnership between private sector firms and the federal government, we can replicate this model, ensure its durability, and firmly reestablish US leadership in nuclear deployment and development. That’s imperative for US competitiveness against Russia and China—and for our decarbonization goals.
Third Way commends TerraPower, Google, Microsoft, and Nucor for their work and thanks the Biden Administration for their continued support to ensure the US once again leads the global civil nuclear market.”