July 8, 2024--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--When it comes to nuclear power, some may cringe when they hear the term, "first of its kind." That verbiage was used 15 years ago, when the industry spoke optimistically about the "nuclear renaissance" that would begin with the addition of two new units to the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station in Georgia. That project, which used the then-new advanced passive reactor, is finally complete, at a cost of around $32 billion--more than double the original estimate--and years late in coming online.

At the groundbreaking ceremony June 10 for the Natrium demonstration nuclear power plant in Wyoming, "first of its kind" optimism, if not the actual words, was in the air.