Congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds (R-FL) advocated support for nuclear power to increase Florida's energy production if elected governor in an exclusive interview with The Floridian this week.
"I think the future of our energy grid is based on nuclear power, small modular reactors, micro reactors," Donalds said.
Rep. Donalds also implied support for hydrogen power as a clean energy source, noting it could help lower electric costs for Florida residents. Notably, Florida does not have oil and gas drilling in state waters.
"We'll see about the viability of hydrogen, hearing some initial good things about the ability of hydrogen, being able to scale hydrogen power in our state. I think that's going to be the future of not just generating electricity, but actually lowering electric costs in our state, having them be more stable for our residents," Donalds said.
However, for now, Rep. Donalds indicated he would push nuclear power if elected.
"Working with the federal government to get some of the regulatory changes where you can actually scale micro reactors on the electric grid, working with the power companies to make that a reality," Donalds said. "I still think Florida needs another natural gas pipeline in the state, and then we'll see, as hydrogen continues to develop, how we bring that online."
Rep. Donalds pointed to his support of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). SMRS are fission reactors designed to be smaller and more adaptable than standard nuclear power plants.
"I think that for people to kind of get it, understand the size like a typical house that's an SMR," Donalds said. "Micro reactors obviously are smaller than that. And so what it allows us to do is, as Florida continues to grow, we can scale the need for increasing the amount of electricity on the grid."
Donalds also dismissed the notion of solar farms. Also known as photovoltaic power stations, solar farms are large-scale installations on land that collect sunlight to produce renewable electricity.
"They take productive land out of production. They're ugly," Donalds said. "And then the panels, solar is actually dirtier than nuclear is. The life cycle of mining the minerals to create solar panels, the life cycle is actually quite dirty."
Donalds is in a Republican primary with Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, and businessman James Fisback for the nomination.
The primary is Aug. 18.
