BELEWS CREEK, N.C. — In 1974 the Belews Creek Steam Station became the largest coal-powered energy plant in North Carolina.
With a renewed focus on reducing carbon emissions, Duke Energy is now turning to nuclear technology.
"It's the backbone of the energy that we provide. In fact, it already provides more than 80% of all carbon free energy supply to the Carolina's," said Duke Energy Spokesperson, Bill Norton.
The new advanced nuclear technology will be the first of it's kind in the Carolinas.
"It is much more efficient, uses less land, and that's really why Belews Creek was the ideal site for this. It had sufficient land, it had water supply, it has the infrastructure already in place," said Norton.
Norton says other energy sources could be used on the site, in addition to the proposed nuclear technology.
Solar and battery storage could be used as well but are not strong enough, on their own, to generate the energy needed for the number of homes powered by the Belews Creek Steam Station.
"Nuclear energy is in one word the most cleanest energy human beings have ever invented," said Dr. Ashot Gasparian, Chair of the Department of Physics at North Carolina A&T.
He says one concern many have is the radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactors.
Dr. Gasparian says that there are ways to reduce or eliminate the dangers, allowing the waste to be disposed of safely or recycled.
"Radioactive secondary elements, we can bombard them with some beams to make them not radioactive, and we can store them any place," said Dr. Dr. Gasparian.
The nuclear technology is only a proposal at this point.
Duke Energy will still need the approval by state and federal regulators before work can begin.
"It's a decade long process, nothing is set in stone, we have a lot of steps to take to make sure that this is done right," said Norton.
Other work is currently underway at the Belews Creek site.
Crews are moving tons of coal ash into a new lined landfill which will help to protect the water supply in the area.