Steel Mills
Nucor Invests in Development of New Nuclear Energy Technology
Written by Brett Linton
April 6, 2022
Nucor announced today that it has entered into an agreement to fund NuScale Power, LLC, a developer of small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear plants. SMRs are nuclear reactors that can operate independently or in tandem with other modules to produce carbon-free electric power on a smaller scale and at a lower cost than traditional nuclear power.
This $15 million investment by the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker will support the path to commercialization of NuScale’s proprietary and innovative SMR technology, the NuScale Power Module™.
“Sustainability is driving the business decisions of leading companies around the world. As America’s largest steel producer and a significant energy consumer, we are looking for safe and reliable sources of power generation that are consistent with our sustainability goals. The continued development of small modular nuclear reactors is critical to ensure our nation has carbon-free, baseload power, which is why we are making this investment in NuScale,” Nucor president and CEO Leon Topalian said in a statement.
In the past two years, Nucor has entered three power purchase agreements to support the development of solar and wind energy projects. Nucor thinks both nuclear and renewable energy must be part of the solution for carbon reduction and grid reliability because an effective electric grid requires both baseload and intermittent power sources.
Additional details can be found on the Nucor website here.
By Brett Linton, Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Brett Linton
Read more from Brett LintonLatest in Steel Mills
USS swings to loss in first quarter on N. American flat-rolled segment woes
U.S. Steel CEO praised the company’s resilience, “despite the seasonally low results driven by annual mining logistics constraints in our North American Flat-Rolled segment and lagging spot prices.”
Nucor gives updates on new capacity coming online
Nucor said several of its capital projects will start operations within the next year and provided an update on them.
Algoma swings to loss on ‘market challenges’ and ‘tariff uncertainties’
Canada’s Algoma Steel swung to a loss in the first quarter amid "market challenges," and the company now expects first steel production from its first EAF in the second quarter.
Ternium raises budget for Mexico project
The steelmaker now expects the new steel slab mill in Pesquería will begin operations by Q4’26.
SSAB announces $74M expansion in Alabama
The project will expand heat treat capacity at its Axis, Alabama plant