Nuclear Option

Some believe that a nuclear energy future is a possible option to follow the age of the fossil fuels. Many believe that because it does not emit carbon, nuclear power can save us from climate disaster. These people do not realize that uranium-235 (the only naturally occurring fissionable material) is 

In the past only two nuclear accidents (Three Mile Island and Chernobyl) were widely reported, while over 100 went unreported. These other accident were not caused by only earthquakes, design errors or terrorist acts, but more recently also by software virus attacks through the Internet. For example, on January 25, 2003 a Slammer worm penetrated the private computer network of Ohio s Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, and stopped its control computer. The only reason a meltdown did not result is because the plant was not in operation. 

Another major safety concern is waste disposal. Today, there is no safe nuclear waste depository anywhere on the planet. Therefore, used fuel rods are stored locally near each plant in steel casks. These casks can be destroyed by conventional weapons and if that happens, they can release radioactive gases. 

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Since the early 1990s the United States has imported more oil than it has produced for its own use. And, as the nuclear option became frozen, coal has become the chief source for gcirerating electricity, which itself accounts for about 35 percent of the energy sector. In 1997, 52 percent of electricity produced in the United States was generated from coal and in other recent years the fraction has approached 56 percent. Since the United States accounts for one—quarter of total world energy usage, the increase in coal use in the United States alone has a significant... 

Where does nonproliferation stand in the myriad of institutional, regulatory, public acceptance, economic and, at times, even technical problems now affecting the future of the nuclear option Is the potential contribution of nuclear power activities to further proliferation seen by policy makers and, of equal importance, the public as a significant obstacle to its revival Or is it viewed as a potential benefit capable of reducing proliferation risks. 

Complete neglect of the Coulomb operator in the inverse matrix (the bare nuclear option). 

Two observations can be made based on this simple calculation. If one examines Figure 9.7, one readily observes that resources such as coal, oil, and gas can last in the decades to century range, whereas nuclear options can last far longer. Second, solar energy seems to provide about 5000 TW of solar radiation that gets radiated back into space. For argument s sake, let us assume that the efficiency of solar cells is about 10%, and only 30% of the earth s surface area is land. This means that only 0.1 x 0.3 x 5000 = 150 TW is potentially useful. However, it is inconceivable that all the earth s land area will be utilized for solar energy, so perhaps only 1% can be used. 

As a result, the nuclear option can, in the short term, enable large C02 emission reductions based on available light water reactors and alkaline electrolysis technologies. The economic attractiveness of this solution depends on the electricity cost but also on the C02 and natural gas prices. 

Yildiz, B., and M. Kazimi. 2003. Nuclear Options for Hydrogen and Hydrogen-Based Liquid Fuels Production. MIT-NES-TR-001. Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, Cambridge, Mass. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

A more sophisticated approach is to use risk-adjusted discounted cash flow methods that properly account for the nondiversifiable risk associated with fossil fuel price volatility and the lower diversifiable risk associated with capital projects. Application of this more robust financial analysis leads to a significant change in the costs of technologies. Table 6 suggests that the renewable technologies become slightly less costly while nuclear and fossil fuels, particularly gas, become significantly more expensive (in some cases the cost more than doubles). Furthermore, the cost rank order alters such that, with the exception of solar thermal, renewables become cheaper than the fossil fueled and nuclear options. 

Before the 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, many electric utilities bought the nuclear option on the premise that it would be too cheap to meter. 

For the introduction of nuclear process heat into the energy market, the estimation of present and future industrial demand for process steam needs to be made first as well as establishing how nuclear power fits into the energy needs profile [19]. Inevitable fluctuations in industrial process heat/steam demand have to be expected. Also the consumer circle for secondary energy is limited for industrial plants compared with public power plants, thus smaller units would be preferable. On the other hand, nuclear units are economically operated only at a certain minimum capacity. Units of 500 MW(th) are thought in [7] to allow economic use of the nuclear option. A more recent study from 1990 [19] takes plants of 2 100 MW(th) as a minimum into consideration increasing the industrial potential of nuclear plants. Table 2-1 summarizes the number of process steam plants, sites, and steam production capacity in Germany valid for the year 1987 [19]. 

The prerequisite of minimal emission of CO2 into the atmosphere has suggested the nuclear option in exploiting the Natuna gas field. Six alternatives have been identified as being feasible and economically competitive, distinguished by the desired product methanol or methane (or hydrogen) and by the CO2 consumption [14] ... 

The nuclear option becomes cost competitive with coal generating technologies at 1355 /kW (Figure AlO). The default DOE capital cost assumption for nuclear is 1694 /kW. 

ARBIE, B. et al - User Requirement Document for Small and Medium Reactors in Indonesia , 2" International Seminar on Nuclear Options in Countries with Small and medium Electricity Grids, Dubrovnik, June 15-18, 1998. 

Besides the traditional technological challenges, socio-economic concerns are also taken on board, such as public acceptance and cost of the nuclear option as well as plant simplification and man-technology-organisation interaction. 

The NERI research areas are also of critical importance to foreign countries with civilian nuclear programs. I-NERI encourages foreign participation with US institutions to help maintain the nuclear option worldwide and to leverage scarce research dollars. 

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