When a nuclear power plant closes, host communities lose an important source of income. Plans to mitigate losses through redevelopment projects are indefinitely hindered by the decommissioning process, and later, by the onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel. Siting a solar power plant on undeveloped property at former nuclear plant sites could generate approximately $1,000,000 in total revenue each year.¹ Redeveloping underused land at these sites has the potential to provide significant benefits to the utility, host community, and the state.

Why Nuclear and Solar?

Solar farms are compatible with former nuclear plant sites for several reasons:

• The existing electric infrastructure on former nuclear power plants may facilitate an easier transition to solar energy generation.
• Solar farms require little day-to-day maintenance and may therefore be appealing to utilities concerned about traffic around spent nuclear fuel storage.
• There is a precedent for siting large-scale solar operations on formerly contaminated sites such as brownfields, landfills, and former mining operations.

Potential Solar Farm Revenue

The total annual revenue is determined by the number of developable acres, solar power generation capacity, and battery storage capacity. Using these factors, it is determined that a solar farm located in rural New England could be expected to provide approximately $1,000,000 in total revenue each year.^{2 3} This is a conservative estimate but provides a baseline idea of how much a host community and state may benefit from a solar development on currently undeveloped property.

Additionally, for each year after decommissioning that a plant remains undeveloped, the host community and state lose out on more potential revenue. This cumulative loss is represented by the opportunity cost, which is calculated by multiplying the annual revenue by the number of years since decommissioning was completed. Over time, the failure to pursue solar energy production on former nuclear power plant sites has cost host communities an average of approximately $16.6 million per site.

Other Opportunities for Nuclear and Solar

While the revenue given in this paper is based on the specifications of a decommissioned nuclear plant, there is also potential for solar power plants to be sited alongside operational nuclear power plants. Most operational plants are surrounded by a considerable amount of buffer land. This is land that is owned by the utility, but is outside of the plant’s industrial footprint. For many of the same reasons that they could be compatible with a decommissioned plant site, solar farms could be compatible with operational plants. Operational nuclear power plants may represent another opportunity for solar development.

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