Is this nuclear power’s moment in Maryland?

As Maryland officials scramble to meet the state’s ambitious clean energy mandates, they are coalescing around a concept that seemed unthinkable a decade ago: That nuclear energy must be part of the solution. Even environmentalists are coming to terms with the idea.

Paul Pinsky, the director of the Maryland Energy Administration, and one of the leading climate advocates in Annapolis during his long tenure in the General Assembly, recalled protesting against nuclear power plants in the 1970s. Now, he says, nuclear has “become a staple” in the state and nation’s energy portfolio, even if many Americans don’t realize it.

“If you asked 100 people on the street if their lights came on because of nuclear energy, I would guess three people would know it,” Pinsky said.

The Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Southern Maryland generates about 40% of the energy produced in Maryland — all of it carbon-free. More than 80% of the clean energy generated in the state comes from the nuclear plant.

But nuclear continues to be hamstrung by a reputation, gained largely after high-profile disasters at power plants in the 1970s and 1980s, that it’s dangerous. The nuclear industry has also been struggling financially: Several nuclear power plants across the country have been decommissioned over the past few decades, in part because more natural gas power is being generated in the U.S. than ever before, which is far cheaper to produce. Yet clean energy mandates have prompted policymakers to take another look at nuclear, knowing that whatever progress is being made developing other clean energy sources is inadequate for meeting short- and medium-term goals.