Grabbing the Headlines

New build. Small reactors. Life extension. These are topics that continued to grab headlines throughout 2010 surrounding the nuclear power industry.

In the U.S. alone, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received 13 applications to license 22 new reactors. And with the Southern Co.-led consortium receiving the first conditional loan guarantee from the federal government, new build seemed to be moving forward in the U.S. But as utilities and vendors both wait, the Department of Energy has yet to hand out another loan guarantee to any others seeking to build the first new nuclear reactor in the U.S. It seemed that DOE was on the verge until Constellation Energy backed out on plans to build a new reactor in Maryland.

At the NUCLEAR POWER International conference this year new build will be one of the topics discussed during the three-days of sessions in Orlando, Fla.

“The main drivers for nuclear expansion, both globally and in North America, have not changed,” said Deva Chari, Westinghouse senior vice president of nuclear power plants, during the November Nuclear Power Executive Roundtable discussion in Power Engineering magazine. “The global need for energy, and particularly for electricity, will continue to grow, environmental issues and greenhouse gas emissions will continue to be a concern, and countries and regions will continue to be concerned about the security of their energy supplies.”

New reactor designs that are generating interest in commercial power circles throughout the world will be discussed in a session headed by four industry experts.

“There are some applications where a small reactor may make sense assuming there is some significant change in regulatory framework that can be made,” said Areva Senior Vice President of U.S. new build operations Mark Marano, whom also participated in the Nuclear Power Executive Roundtable discussion. “But the main challenge for the small modular reactor technology will be their ability to be competitive in this regulatory environment.’

Outside of new build and new reactor designs, nuclear power plant operators and the NRC work together to achieve license renewals for nuclear facilities. Currently, the NRC has approved license renewals for 57 of the 104 operating reactors in the U.S. Another conference session will discuss the everyday challenges that operators face in terms of safely operating and maintaining the aging nuclear fleet while preparing for life extension projects of nuclear reactors. And when completing those projects, Entergy Nuclear CEO and Chief Nuclear Officer John Herron said predictability and stability are key to both the license renewal process and the new nuclear licensing.

“For anybody to want to go and invest in nuclear, and bet your company on the size of an investment that may be the market cap of the company, you have to have regulatory predictability and stability,” he said. “I would tell you that we have a long way to go in that area.”

This year has been active for the nuclear power industry and with the possibility of more funding from the DOE for nuclear power, 2011 shows no signs of slowing down. At NUCLEAR POWER International attendees will get to discuss some of the new activities and challenges that face the nuclear power industry. And according to Herron, “with respect to clean, baseload energy, nuclear is the only way to go.”

I look forward to meeting you in Orlando!

The fate of nuclear power after midterm elections

In the largest shift of power since 1948, Republicans took over the U.S. House on midterm election night. And the nuclear industry could benefit from the Republican takeover as part of the clean energy legislation.

In a statement released the morning of Election Day, Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc., said that if Republicans won, the other big winner would be nuclear power. Well, we do know that Republicans have won the House and have made up ground in the Senate as well, even though Democrats still hold the majority.

Historically there has been more support from Republicans for nuclear power. But Steve Corneli, senior vice president of market and climate policy for NRG Energy, said there is an increasing awareness from Democrats that nuclear power can be an important part of energy independence and a zero-carbon emission future.

Michigan representative Fred Upton, like many Republicans, is a supporter of nuclear power in the U.S. Upton is also a strong contender to head the House Energy and Commerce Committee; the committee that sees over the national energy policy.

"Through a greater commitment to nuclear, we have a unique opportunity to cut greenhouse gases, provide stability to our electrical supply and create jobs," Upton told Reuters.

John Boehner (R-OH) is expected to take over as the new Speaker of the House and is also a strong proponent of nuclear power.

"The new Congress will be more pro-nuclear than any Congress we've seen in decades," said Gillispie.

And President Obama continues to promote nuclear power, too.

“There’s been discussion about how we can restart our nuclear industry as a means of reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gases,” Obama said during a speech the day after the midterm elections. “Is that an area where we can move forward?”

As of now, that seems to be possible. The White House has requested an additional $36 billion in federal loan guarantees for new nuclear plants and it seems that Republicans are likely to support the measure, even with a big focus during the campaign on reducing government spending.

But Corneli said the interesting part is that the important policy measures that are needed to help jump start the nuclear renaissance are the ones with the lowest cost to federal treasury, and those are the federal loan guarantees, “which really don’t cost the treasury anything.”

“Essentially it is self-financing,” he said. “It seems like the stars could be lining up right now for a boost in nuclear power development.”

Corneli said nuclear is established and the existing fleet of nuclear reactors provide the lowest cost power currently on the grid, but there hasn’t been a new plant built in roughly 30 years.
“We actually think that nuclear power has the potential to be the real foundation of clean energy technology,” he said.

Gillispie seems to agree.

“When the history of nuclear power is written, Nov. 2, 2010 will be a major turning point for the industry," said Gillispie. "It will mark the beginning of a dramatic resurgence for nuclear power."

Can nuclear plants operate beyond 60 years?

The United States clearly wants to lower emissions from power generation facilities and of the 104 operating emission-free nuclear reactors in the United States, about half of them are more than 30 years old. Nuclear plants in the U.S. are initially licensed for 40 years of operation and have the ability to receive a license extension for 20 additional years of power generation. While more than half of the reactors have received extensions, and most of the remaining plants are expected to as well, the question now is, “Can these nuclear power plants operate beyond 60 years?”

A survey conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute in early-2010 of executives representing 57 of the 104 operating units found that more than 60 percent believe there was a greater than 75 percent likelihood of extending operations beyond 60 years to 80 years and beyond.

Recognizing the challenges facing the extension of plant operation from 60 to 80 years and beyond, EPRI launched the Long-Term Operation project to “provide value by identifying and developing research and development activities that will provide the technical basis for license renewal beyond 60 years and for extended high-performance operation.” Along with EPRI, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, some U.S. and international utilities and industry vendors are participating to modernize and improve plant operations, as an example.

Maria Korsnick, chief nuclear office and senior vice president of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, said the goal is to harness the “known benefits of nuclear power, which right now provides more than 70 percent of emission free electricity in the U.S.”

Korsnick said it is an opportunity for Constellation, as they still have very much life in their current license, to look ahead and understand what potential issues could be present. Constellation currently operates two of the oldest reactors in the fleet, Nine Mile Point 1 and Ginna, both of which turned 40-years-old last year.

Neil Wilmshurst, chief nuclear office and vice president of EPRI, said the LTO project “is around helping us all understand what challenges may be in front of us to secure continued operation of the existing fleet.”

He said technical issues have arisen and will continue to rise which has lead to EPRI deploying an Issue Tracking Table – a live document that is updated when new issues and questions come to light. Wilmshurst said that one key area that EPRI is gathering more information on is the issue of concrete aging. EPRI does not currently see concrete aging is a problem, but do acknowledge that they “need to understand what aging is in order to answer any questions regulators may have during the relicensing process.”

And the relicensing of a plant to extend its life to 80 years or beyond could be significantly more difficult than the first round of relicensing, according to Korsnick.
She said that unlike the first round of relicensing, which involved an inspection of the plant, she “would envision that going from a 60 to 80 year time frame would be an ongoing inspection of the plant to insure the fact they are aging as you have estimated.”

And she does have some experience in the field of relicensing as she was working with Calvert Cliffs when it became the first plant to submit for original license renewal.

Both Korsnick and Wilmshurst agree that nuclear has be a part of the generation mix in order to combat climate change and to achieve CO2 reduction.

“Nuclear can’t answer the whole problem,” said Wilmshurst. “But it is hard for us to envision CO2 reduction happening without sustained nuclear generation out into the future,” especially operating at 90 percent capacity.

Korsnick said the country still needs new nuclear plants to take shape, but did say they may be built at a slower rate perhaps than forecasted just a few years ago.

Nevertheless, “there is a compatibility, if you will, between the construction of new nuclear as well as the extension of our current operating assets,” she said. “A combination of extending the life of current assets as well as new technology positions us strategically as a nation for success.”