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Texas hasn’t seen a new source of nuclear energy since 1990, when the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant outside Glen Rose, 60 miles from Fort Worth, came online. But recent developments involving state lawmakers and industry officials point to the prospect of new sites dedicated to producing nuclear energy.Advancements wouldn’t focus on major power plants such as Comanche Peak, but rather on small modular reactors that can produce up to 300 milliwatts per unit, about a third of a traditional power plant’s generating capacity. That proposal came from Gov. Greg Abbott during a 2024 conference where industry leaders discussed the expansion of nuclear energy in Texas.The reactors would serve to backup the state’s main electric grid, Abbott said, citing the 2021 winter storm that left millions of people without power or heat for days and hundreds of deaths tied to the blackouts. Joining Abbott, U.S. Rep. Craig Goldman, the freshman Republican now representing Fort Worth in Congress, currently sits on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and has displayed his support for expanding nuclear energy sources in the state. “We need all hands on deck and every source of energy we can get to, but nuclear energy, especially the small modular reactors, are the future of America,” said Goldman. Research and demand for energy is also playing a role in the push for nuclear reactors, an effort that is especially visible in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.“Research takes place at universities. So when we’re talking about new nuclear technology, such as small modular reactors or even micro reactors, universities want to be involved,” said Tom Seng, an energy finance professor at Texas Christian University.Industrial growth also makes North Texas a prospective region for creating more nuclear facilities. Data centers make up a large portion of industrial growth in North Texas, added Seng, but it is unlikely the state’s electrical grid will be able to supply all the energy required by data centers even in the next five years. Facebook’s Fort Worth data center opened in 2015. It was followed by many more data centers coming to the area. (Courtesy image | Meta) Dallas-Fort Worth saw record-breaking levels of data center construction in 2024, largely driven by an abundance of open space and land.Consequently, company conglomerates such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other web services, are turning to nuclear power to operate data centers.Small modular reactors or micro reactors are potential sources of energy to meet industrial growth and the demand for power that comes with it, said Seng. Why nuclear is gaining ground with industry, lawmakersHydrogen facilities are used to power industrial operations when demand for electricity is high, said Everett Johnson, a TCU alum who works at Comanche Peak. These facilities or plants primarily use natural gas to produce hydrogen gas that generates electricity, powering various industrial operations. As hydrogen gas is considered a seasonal source of energy, turning to nuclear energy is a considerable option, said Johnson.“With the industrial growth and the residential growth, there’s going to be a need for nuclear,” said Johnson. The Comanche Peak plant is responsible for generating electricity to power a million homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Johnson said. But when there is a spike in demand for electricity, the plant can produce enough energy to supply an additional 460,000 households. Because of this, nuclear has gained interest as a reliable source of energy, said Johnson.A nuclear power plant, such as that in Glen Rose, uses heat generated by reactors to turn water into steam, which then drives turbines to produce electricity. Small modular reactors are smaller machines that contain and control nuclear chain reactions while releasing heat at a controlled rate.Congressman Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, spoke to attendees during AVX Aircraft Co.’s ribbon-cutting event on Oct. 29, 2024, at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)In his time serving on Texas House committees focused on energy resources, Goldman and his colleagues were tasked with finding additional sources to power Texas. They pointed to nuclear as a clean and cost-efficient source of energy. In an interview with the Report, Goldman said that excitement for nuclear reactors comes from a nationwide scale in addition to support in Texas. The molten salt reactor — reactors powered by a fuel or coolant made out of molten salt — being built in West Texas by Abilene Christian University attests to the excitement shared by state and federal leaders looking forward to the future of nuclear energy. That project is slated for completion between 2026 and 2029.Goldman foresees the possibility of building small modular reactors outside of Texas metropolitan areas to supply power to cities growing at rapid rates. State leaders should explore different types of energy sources, but should primarily look to nuclear, said Goldman. “There is a great understanding and a push now, not only in Texas but nationwide, an excitement, if you will, for nuclear energy, and not necessarily the big plants that we see, but the smaller modular reactors that are being built all over the nation,” said Goldman.Opposition to nuclear expansion, waste transport remainsBut talk of nuclear energy expansion in the region has also spurred some anxiety among North Texans. Freight trains roll through Fort Worth area neighborhoods since the city is a major rail hub. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)Karen Hadden, former director of the Strengthening Education for an Engaged Democracy coalition, was one of the leading voices asking Fort Worth officials and other cities to file an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief opposes a 2021 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to permit the transportation of “high-level” nuclear waste through North Texas before it is stored at waste facilities in West Texas. The state of Texas and an oil company sued the commission to stop the plan from moving forward. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case in March. Hadden said she wants to be part of the group that protects Texas. In contrast to Goldman, Hadden considers nuclear energy an expensive, inefficient and dangerous source.New modular reactors would produce nuclear waste at increased rates as opposed to conventional power plants, said Hadden, making the expansion of the energy source a risky and expensive proposition. “To see state money potentially going toward these goals makes no sense,” added Hadden. “If private investors want to invest, that’s one thing, but I don’t understand why the state should be doing this.”The high temperatures at which nuclear sites operate pose higher risks. “With no escape route, you can go from being fine to a disaster in about eight minutes,” said Hadden. “We don’t know how to deal with these things.”Everything has an environmental impact, said former state representative and longtime environmental activist Lon Burnam, but he does not consider nuclear a “green energy” source. “Promoting (nuclear) is undermining true clean energy, which is solar and wind,” said Burnam, who has protested the West Texas waste plan for years. “Nothing being perfectly clean, but those being the two cleanest options.”Aside from the chemicals generated by nuclear power plants, Burnam fears modular reactors would make North Texas a target for terrorist attacks. In the brief, Fort Worth officials emphasize the city’s vulnerability to a catastrophic attack related to nuclear waste, considering the area is home to aerospace defense company Lockheed Martin and the Alliance and Dallas-Fort Worth airports. It is “unreasonable” for the commission to dismiss the possibility of a terrorist attack as “too remote and highly speculative” to allow nuclear waste to pass through Fort Worth, the brief states.Aside from nuclear, there will always be concerns with how energy sources are used, said Seng. Although nuclear waste can be transported to waste sites for temporary storage, the U.S. Department of Energy has yet to come up with a “comprehensive” strategy for handling waste permanently, added Seng. But progress has been made in that area of nuclear energy. If more small modular reactors come into the picture, they could possibly extract more energy out of used fuel rods from nuclear plants, replacing the immediate need for waste transport, according to Seng.“Again, even on a small scale, nuclear is emissions free,” he said. Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.The Fort Worth Report’s Texas legislative coverage is supported by Kelly Hart. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.