Potential Barriers to the Rebirth of Nuclear Power

With the recent offer of federal loan guarantees to the Southern Company to build two new nuclear reactors and plans to expand these federal loan guarantees by a factor of seven as part of a comprehensive energy policy, the electric power industry is taking a huge step toward introducing a new generation of nuclear power plants. Recognizing that it has been almost 40 years since the last nuclear reactor construction project was started in the U.S., it is easy to forget some of the major hurdles that still need to be overcome before wide scale nuclear construction can be a reality.

 Nuclear Power is Part of a Comprehensive Solution

Certainly, the factors driving the shift toward new nuclear power plants are valid:

• Alternative clean energy sources (solar and wind in particular) are dependent on uncontrollable factors to maintain any consistency in output. Given the inherent regional considerations, the power generated from these sources will require additional transmission infrastructure (i.e. added cost, significant regulatory interface and potential political issues) to reach other regions where the added capacity is needed.
• The projected increase in demand for electricity cannot be met with the exclusive deployment of other clean energy technologies. The only real alternative to large scale nuclear power is therefore a dramatic increase in fossil power, a strategy that works counter to society’s goal of significantly reducing environmental emissions.
• Without including nuclear as part of a comprehensive energy portfolio of sources of power, the projected increase in demand for electricity (only some of which can be offset by energy efficiency initiatives) will leave the U.S. dependent on unpredictable foreign oil.

Rebirth of Nuclear Power – Unanswered Questions

Though these factors alone justify the decision to implement a rebirth of nuclear power, federal loan guarantees address only a few of the issues regarding the viability of nuclear power. Other questions remain:

• Where will we dispose of the nuclear waste associated with these reactors? Moreover, what is the long term solution for the interim storage facilities currently in use at over 40 nuclear locations?
• Loan guarantees notwithstanding, is the construction of a nuclear power plant cost-effective, particularly given the economics around natural gas? As a corollary to this question, to what extent can the federal and state governments institute disincentives to tip the scale in favor of nuclear power (and for that matter other renewable energy sources)?
• Were the lessons of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl properly learned? To what extent are the electric utilities willing to implement public outreach programs to better educate customers as to the realities regarding safety and benefits of nuclear power?

These are simple questions to answer, but the implications are both challenging and revealing. As the U.S. embarks on this journey it is of critical importance that the industry recognizes the importance of these issues and proactively develop strategies and tactics to address them. Failure to do so could lead to aborting a program that is critical to our goals of energy independence and environmental stewardship.

Click here for an introduction to nuclear power.

1. Sam Bakhtiari says:

   April 14, 2010 at 1:48 pm

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