Energy
Nuclear Power

Best alternative energy source is nuclear ... Most of what you’ve heard about the cost of building new nuclear plants is inaccurate.

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Best alternative energy source is nuclear ... Most of what you’ve heard about the cost of building new nuclear plants is inaccurate.

A new generation of nuclear power plants can safely, consistently generate large quantities of emission-free electricity whether the sun is shining or not, or the wind is blowing or not.

These machines can provide a path to emission-free electricity on a global scale. Many elected officials and high-ranking government employees insist decreased CO2 emissions are mandatory. Recent technological innovations are providing a helping hand.

Hydraulic fracturing has dramatically increased the supply of natural gas, pushing its price to historically low levels. The number of natural gas fired power plants has surged, replacing coal units and cut carbon dioxide emissions.

The goal for many policy makers is to transition to a zero CO2 emission generation fleet. The only generation technology currently available to produce the amount of electricity needed without any emissions is nuclear power.

This dependable and abundant source of zero-carbon energy remains the hardest for utilities to develop. Although nuclear-generated electricity supplies 87.4 percent of Maryland’s carbon-free power and can provide large amounts of energy around the clock, there hasn’t been a new nuclear plant built in the state since the Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 plant went online in 1977.

To understand why, you need to realize most of what you’ve heard about the cost of building new nuclear plants is inaccurate.

Yes, the cost of constructing large nuclear plants is high. But small modular reactors can be built in a factory for a fraction of the cost of a large plant and shipped to a nuclear site.

Thanks to a renewed focus on modernization, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s safety certification of SMR designs should make it easier to proceed with their construction.

One promising new design is a 50-megawatt small modular reactors, developed by NuScale, an Oregon-based nuclear company. The NuScale SMR would be powered by conventional light-water reactor technology.

But it is designed to shut down safely with no operator action, no electric power and no external water. And it contains far fewer pipes, valves and pumps than a large conventional nuclear plant, reducing the cost of operation and maintenance.

This small modular reactor would be located underground, with as many as 12 modules grouped in a cluster, each operating independently of the other, so when one is taken off line for refueling and maintenance, the others would continue to produce electricity. Each new module would be added in response to the need for more electricity, with a full cluster providing 600 megawatts.

The Department of Energy is sharing the cost of developing the first NuScale SMR, which will be located in Idaho and provide electricity to a utility in nearby Utah. The SMR is expected to begin operating in 2024.

Also on the drawing board are other SMR designs using innovative technologies, ranging from molten salt and pebble bed reactors to fast reactors. Some 50 nuclear companies are competing for SMR sales worldwide, which could be worth billions of dollars.

Recently, the generation mix has changed substantially.

In 2006, about 49 percent of the country’s generation came from coal; in 2015, it was a bit higher than 33 percent. Increased use of natural gas accounted for almost all of the change.

Carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation have declined by 13 percent during a similar time period – 2006-2014.

If the United States is to continue this downward trend in the most efficient manner, new nuclear power plants must be built. Now is the time to start building this new class of nuclear power plants; otherwise, we will not continue to satisfy society’s demand to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ensure low energy costs.​

Email Dan Ervin, a professor of finance at the Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University, at DMERVIN@salisbury.edu.

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