Arizona Public Service is studying the possibility of using excess energy from its Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant, when solar energy is flooding the grid, to desalinate brackish water.

In Illinois, Exelon is looking at repurposing a reactor to produce hydrogen when there’s plenty of wind energy on the grid, then using the hydrogen for steelmaking, ammonia production or fuel-cell vehicles.

Across the country, nuclear operators are trying to figure out whether they can ramp down their reactors, which are optimized to run at maximum capacity, during those hours or seasons when renewable energy is abundant.

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