State Reps. Michael Carbone and Matt Gress
As Arizona rises to meet the challenges of a new era of energy demand, driven by the emergence of artificial intelligence and data centers, advanced nuclear reactors promise to provide the clean, reliable, and abundant energy we need to meet new demands around the clock.
Some critics, however, argue that these new reactors should be opposed because they do not operate like fast-ramping natural gas plants, claiming their operating characteristics are too inflexible to respond rapidly to sudden changes in demand. But these arguments misunderstand both the nature of the problem and the reality of modern reactor designs.
What we are experiencing with increased demand is not a peak-demand problem. It is a baseload problem, representing a need to increase the amount of permanent, structural, baseline…
