NUCLEAR POWERThe Future of Nuclear Power in a Low-Carbon World
For decades, large gigawatt-scale nuclear reactors have provided a significant portion of electricity in the United States, but most of these reactors are at least 40 years old. As the nation moves to decarbonize the economy and transition to clean energy, there are questions how nuclear power could maintain a position in the future energy mix ― given environmental and safety concerns, as well as the high upfront capital costs associated with building reactors.
For decades, large gigawatt-scale nuclear reactors have provided a significant portion of electricity in the United States. However, most of these reactors are at least 40 years old. As the nation moves to decarbonize the economy and transition to clean energy, a recent Climate Conversations webinar explored whether and how nuclear power could maintain a position in the future energy mix ― given environmental and safety concerns, as well as the high upfront capital costs associated with building reactors. The webinar featured two members of the committee that authored a recent National Academies report on the future of nuclear power and was moderated by Kara Colton, director of nuclear policy at Energy Communities Alliance.
“Traditionally nuclear power, these big plants, have been very expensive to build, and rather cheap to operate,” said committee member Ahmed Abdulla, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Carleton University. However, he said, many renewable energy resources are now “even cheaper to operate, because they have no fuel costs, [and] have changed the economic paradigm for the large nuclear reactors.”
A new generation of advanced nuclear reactors using an array of coolants, designs, fuels, materials, and technologies ― some novel, some conventional ― offer a range of innovations, explained Abdulla. These make them potentially stronger candidates than larger traditional reactors for development and deployment in the coming decades. The advantages differ between reactor concepts, but can include an improved safety profile, smaller size, and modularity, with the ability to scale systems up or down to meet output needs.
Some modular reactor designs could also be built in factories and assembled on site, potentially helping to rein in the high construction costs that have plagued larger reactors. “Before companies are going to build those factories, though, they need to have the incentive of having a large number of orders,” said Michael Ford, who also worked on the report and is the associate laboratory director for engineering at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University. Orders from the U.S. government would be a boon to the industry, according to Ford, but international demand could also spur development and manufacturing in the U.S., if modular reactors can be “quickly certified and made available for the international market.”