It is the cleanest of all available and proven technologies that can grow rapidly. We have to grow the stable supply base, not just grow the renewables. It is our safest bet for independence, reliability and fighting global warming. Nuclear “enjoys” unjustifiable bad public opinion. That’s where leadership is needed to shift public opinion.
Build more nuclear power stations:
- Step 1 — Double the capacity of existing nuclear stations by building next to existing stations. Required: Federal and local government fast track for building next to current nuclear reactors. Given the enormous regulatory roadblocks, and the time it would take to remove them, it is the fastest way to add capacity (or replace decommissioned one).
- Step 2 — Build in new locations. Required: a federal law that will force the states with the largest energy growth requirements to build part of their new generation infrastructure as nuclear. It should be enforced with financial penalties (i.e., withholding federal transfers to the state). It should be a severe financial “whip”. NIMBY cannot be an option when it comes to the crisis we are facing. There are also industry capacity questions that could be solved by the market if demand will be “guaranteed”.
Develop and implement technologies that will allow us to economically extend the usable life of current aging nuclear power stations. The national energy laboratories should be assigned with the R&D task in close cooperation with industry. Many nuclear power stations will be retired within 10-15 years (some have already been shut down). Electrical energy shortages could be expected in some regions in the near term.
The ban on nuclear reprocessing should be lifted immediately. As a safety measure, only a small number of breeder reactors should be built in selected areas. The policy will be re-evaluated in 15 years (depending on availability of U235 and other generation technologies). We can save time by learning from the French experience with breeder reactors. They are electricity exporters to neighboring countries.
The storage facility in Yucca Mountain should be opened as soon as possible. There should be a federal way to enforce it on Nevada. The current storage places (in the power stations) are by an order of magnitude more dangerous to the nation from security point of view and from an environmental risk than the use of Yucca Mountain.
Thorium breeder reactor — The national energy laboratories in cooperation with industry should be assigned the task of building a Thorium based nuclear reactor as soon as possible. If economic feasibility is proven, licenses for new reactors should give preference to Thorium breeder reactors. Thorium is an abundant mineral. The process does not create “bomb” type materials; therefore it could be implemented in many developing countries. We are already behind India in Thorium reactor research.
Since that tragic day of March 11, 2011 when an enormous earthquake and horrific tsunami struck the northeastern side of Japan, we have been inundated by media reports on the… Read more »
Andrew, Thanks for the perspective. God knows we the public need real experts commenting on the reality of the situation right now in Japan. I still remain highly skeptical of… Read more »
Today the connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons is even more remote than ever before because weapon technology is, unfortunately, widespread. I believe that making or not making nuclear… Read more »
From AP: TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster,… Read more »
Dr. Andy Kadak is right on target. One of the toughest and most important lessons the U S had to learn from TMI-2 was the importance of public information. TMI… Read more »
Cleanest from a greenhouse gas emissions perspective. Not from a nuclear waste perspective!
That’s because uranium is needed for nuclear power and uranium is a finite resource. There will be peak uranium just as there will be peak oil. And uranium mining is… Read more »
NYTimes: http://nyti.ms/qp3Bkh I am pleased to finally see this important work in public view. What the Sandia National Lab study showed was that natural forces: physics, chemistry, and biology inherently… Read more »
All risk analysis has limitations because whomever is creating the models has to input probabilities. And just like terrorism, many of the acceptable probabilities are just unknown. The NRC, frankly,… Read more »
The publication of the NRC research sponsored efforts at Sandia National Laboratories has been known for several years and should have been widely published then. It has many profound implications/applications… Read more »
It is unfair to say that negative public opinion surrounding nuclear is unjustified. Nuclear has historically spawned a variable host of perceived and actual risks in both defense and civilian… Read more »
Before we decide to build more nuclear power plants, we should take a serious look at the economics of nuclear and see if, given the limited amounts of capital we… Read more »
There are serious setbacks to nuclear power that might make it more worthwhile to invest in safer renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric power. While any… Read more »
The New York Times has reported that General Electric has “successfully tested laser enrichment” of the isotope uranium 235, effectively achieving a long-sought technical breakthrough in the process of enriching… Read more »
The greatest fear I have with the future of nuclear energy is the proliferation and illicit use of fissile material. The easy path to a weapon today is for a… Read more »
It would be useful to have a review. However, since it’s been done, other parties will inevitably work out how and if they want to do it, they’ll do it.… Read more »
Testing a process and scaling-up a process are very different activities. Many great capabilities that are proven and developed in labs never get to commercialization due to problems that happen… Read more »
The issue of laser enrichment is a difficult one. Contrary to GE’s claims of a breakthrough for the nuclear industry, it seems more like breakthrough for GE. I say this… Read more »
Practically speaking, what limits Iran, China, USSR, Pakistan and India from stealing the technology? The $1 Billion is USD. China and the others could implement the technology for far less… Read more »
Forcing nuclear on States and communities is likely to waste funding that could otherwise be used to reduce carbon. Proper siting processes need to be taken seriously.
Keep in mind that reprocessing creates new waste streams. Innovative nuclear technologies have been proposed that utilize spent nuclear fuel (SNF) as an energy source – and rendering a permanent… Read more »
A little background on our current national dialogue on nuclear waste disposal: The state of Nevada is opposed to the siting of a nuclear waste repository some 100 miles north… Read more »
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should be given the opportunity to go through all of the scientific and environmental data and look at the design of the repository to make sure… Read more »
I can’t get excited about Yucca mountain, one way or another. The endless safety reviews and environmental studies are an annoying waste of funds, but as far as I am… Read more »
With the apparent cancellation of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository by the Department of Energy under the direction of President Obama, the question of what to do with all… Read more »
The relationship between nuclear power and nuclear weapons is a critically important issue. It is also one that is fraught with confusion, misunderstanding, and misinformation. To sort out what’s what,… Read more »
Technology is advancing quickly – Thorium breeder reactors do not represent the most advanced nuclear tech to date.
The benefits of the thorium fuel cycle are vast and the research is very advanced in nature. That is why on March 24, 2009, Congress directed the US Navy to… Read more »