Oppenheimer Could NEVER Have Predicted This About Nuclear Energy…

Coal’s death knell rang out earlier this month. 

Did you hear it?

On July 1, 2023, it was ringing loud and clear in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. 

I won’t blame you if you’ve been distracted by other headlines. 

Depending on the media you’re consuming, you’re either distracted by the Barbie movie hype, the latest drama surrounding Hunter Biden, or busy planning for an alien invasion. Meanwhile, an event took place in Pennsylvania that we’ve seen coming for more than a decade. 

After more than half a century of operations, the Homer City Generating Station finally shuttered its doors.  

It’s OK if you don’t recognize the name; I'd wager anyone outside of rural Western Pennsylvania wouldn’t. 

Built in the 1960s, this coal-fired power station was the largest coal-powered plant in the state, operating with a generating capacity of nearly 2,000 megawatts. 

For 54 years, it provided enough continuous baseload power to meet regional electricity demands. 

At that age, it was nearly a decade older than the average coal power plant age of 45. 

And we can be absolutely sure about one thing — the rest of the U.S. coal industry is living on borrowed time. 

I’m done reading the tea leaves. 

For the last decade, we’ve been slowly watching the death of coal, and it’s been a steady, downward spiral that has been inevitable.

There are simply too many forces going against it. 

Over the years, my readers and I have talked about them all…

From a flood of cheap natural gas thanks to the marriage between hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques that launched the U.S. into an unprecedented oil and natural gas boom to the massive push toward renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. 

Over the next six years, electricity demand for coal is projected to fall by one-third, yet there’s a bigger problem for the world’s dirtiest source of energy. 

Considering how old the average coal plant is today, coupled with the fact that no new coal-fired generating capacity is being built, it’s only a matter of time before that ancient fleet of power plants withers away into nothingness. 

Roughly a quarter of our current coal power plants are expected to close by 2029. 

And things are going to get worse for coal country from here on out. Just take a look for yourself:

Saved by Oppenheimer’s Legacy 

Although traditional nuclear power has been under pressure for decades, mostly due to the stigma from older generations of nuclear technology — from horrific images of mushroom clouds to catastrophic disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima — the path forward for nuclear power has been gaining some momentum. 

And believe it or not, the death of these coal plants will play a pivotal role in nuclear’s rebirth. 

It all lies in the breakthroughs being made in next-gen nuclear tech like small modular reactors (SMRs). 

But where does coal come into play?

Well, I’m glad you asked.

You see, coal plants are remarkable in the sense that 80% of them have the necessary requirements to be repowered by SMRs.

More importantly, these small modular reactors, which will generate roughly 300 MWe, can brush off the stigma of danger that traditional nuclear plants have. There are no meltdowns or mass evacuations, and they take up a fraction of the surface footprint of a nuclear plant. 

By repurposing our country’s coal plants toward SMR technology, it’s as clean an energy source as you’ll ever find. 

And that, dear reader, is where the opportunity lies.

You see, even though there are several prominent companies that are designing the SMR reactors that will start popping up all over the world over the next few years, there’s a way individual investors like us can get their piece of the pie. 

The secret isn’t in finding out who’s building these SMRs — it’s who’s fueling them.

This is something you need to check out right away.

Until next time,

Keith Kohl

Check us out on YouTube!

A true insider in the technology and energy markets, Keith’s research has helped everyday investors capitalize from the rapid adoption of new technology trends and energy transitions. Keith connects with hundreds of thousands of readers as the Managing Editor of Energy & Capital, as well as the investment director of Angel Publishing’s Energy Investor and Technology and Opportunity.

For nearly two decades, Keith has been providing in-depth coverage of the hottest investment trends before they go mainstream — from the shale oil and gas boom in the United States to the red-hot EV revolution currently underway. Keith and his readers have banked hundreds of winning trades on the 5G rollout and on key advancements in robotics and AI technology.

Keith’s keen trading acumen and investment research also extend all the way into the complex biotech sector, where he and his readers take advantage of the newest and most groundbreaking medical therapies being developed by nearly 1,000 biotech companies. His network includes hundreds of experts, from M.D.s and Ph.D.s to lab scientists grinding out the latest medical technology and treatments. You can join his vast investment community and target the most profitable biotech stocks in Keith’s Topline Trader advisory newsletter.