By Paolo von Schirach
President, Global Policy Institute; Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bay Atlantic University, both in Washington, DC
Could it be that the now moribund U.S. civil nuclear power sector will be lifted to new heights by innovative technologies? Maybe so, if the concept of small nuclear reactors gets traction in the U.S. and elsewhere, this way creating a new modality to supply low cost, emission free, electricity.
There was a time in which the U.S. led the world in the design and construction of nuclear energy for electricity generation. So much so that nuclear still generates a little less than 20% of all electricity produced in America.
The problem is that most of these plants are quite old. Many of them are approaching the end of their useful life. In the meantime, hardly any new reactors have been built. The latest large scale project completed in America is Plant Vogtle, in the state of Georgia. However, Plant Vogle, after years of delays and huge cost overruns, ended up with an astonishing price tag of about $ 35 billion, more than double the initial $ 14 billion estimate. This is a monstrous figure. Hard to believe that with this sticker price more of these reactors will be built.
Many reasons behind this. Most Americans are scared about nuclear power on account of the very few but extremely well publicized accidents: Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, (March 28, 1979), Chernobyl, USSR, (April 26, 1986), and finally Fukushima Daichi, Japan, (March 11, 2011).
Hence industry’s hesitation regarding proposing new projects. A dormant US nuclear industry, in turn, caused the loss of manufacturing plants, along with the loss of the highly skilled personnel that would design, build, manage and maintain new nuclear reactors. Add the additional cost of more and more safety features required by regulators, and this explains the price explosion for the very few approved new reactors.
And here is where small nuclear reactors come in. According to the World Nuclear Association website: “Modern small reactors for power generation are expected to have greater simplicity of design, economy of series production largely in factories, short construction times, and reduced siting costs. Most are also designed for a high level of passive or inherent safety in the event of malfunction.”
It sounds like a sure winner: low cost, scalable, safe energy. And yet it has taken a long time for the companies promoting this complete redesign of the traditional nuclear reactors to get recognition and then pass the scrutiny of watch dogs and regulators, in the US and in many other countries.
Prominent among the new startups is TerraPower, a company funded in large measure by Bill Gates, retired Microsoft founder. With the support of the U.S. Department of Energy, TerraPower just began construction of its first reactor in the state of Wyoming. This is a milestone to be remembered.
Looking around the world, from North America to Europe and China, there are dozens of startups working on their own small reactors design. All in all, while we are still far from large scale deployments, it seems now proven that the concept is scientifically sound and commercially viable.
The world will need more and more energy supply in the years to come. At the same time, we need clean, emission free energy. Hopefully, small nuclear reactors will be a significant part of the solution: affordable and dependable clean energy that can be easily scaled up, according to needs.