Abstract
Greenhouse gas emission is a mounting problem that threatens the future production of electricity from both coal and natural gas. In 2006, 70% of domestic electricity generation relied upon fossil fuels. Projections by the Energy Information Agency show U.S. demand for electricity increasing 30% to 40% by 2030. Today nuclear power is the largest source of non-greenhouse-gas emitting energy generation and will be an important source of energy production in the future. This paper considers potential construction of new plants as well as the long-term prospects of existing nuclear power plants in the United States.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 24-27 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | JOM |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2009 |
Funding
Nuclear power is the largest contributor of non-greenhouse-gas-emitting electric power generation, comprising nearly three-quarters of the non-emitting sources as shown in Figure 2. Energy efficiency and carbon storage are all expected to play increasing roles in providing clean, reliable energy; however, nuclear power will continue to be depended upon for large-scale supply of dependable clean electricity. Other forms of low-CO2-emitting and renewable energy production also have the potential to produce environmentally friendly energy. Among the most promising are hydroelectric, wind, and solar power. In the United States, hydroelectric power is the most widely used renewable energy and produced 7% of all electric power in 2006 but there is limited opportunity for expansion. Wind and solar power have demonstrated promise to produce environmentally friendly energy to meet some of the nation’s growing demand. A graph of current capacity factors is shown in Figure 3. The extremely high capacity factor for nuclear power makes it the only reliable low-CO2- emitting source of baseload power available. The national issues of energy secu rity, environmental security, and the unique capabilities of nuclear power to provide solutions were recognized in the National Energy Policy.2 The policy called for expansion in nuclear energy in the United States. Subsequently, the National Energy Policy Act of 20053 established and authorized the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Nuclear Power 2010 Program4 to stimulate construction of new nuclear power plants with demonstration of streamlined but unproven licensing processes and facilitating “first mover” new nuclear power plants. The policy also authorized R&D programs for advanced and existing nuclear power plants. For existing light water reactors (LWRs) the act called out “research and development activities addressing reliability, availability, productivity, component aging, safety and security.”5,6 Several new research programs have been initiated to help with this vision. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program is an R&D program sponsored by DOE, performed in close collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI’s) Long-Term Operation efforts and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Life Beyond 60 Program. These efforts seek to provide the technical foundations for licensing and managing the long-term safe and economical operation of current nuclear power plants. The DOE program focus is on the longer-term and higher-risk/reward research. Major areas of emphasis include Materials Aging and Degradation, Advanced LWR Fuel Development, Advanced Instrumentation, Control, and Information Systems, and Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| EPRI’s) Long-Term Operation efforts | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission | |
| Electric Power Research Institute |
