Overview of US Nuclear Energy Initiatives

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Overview of US Nuclear Energy Initiatives
Harold McFarlane President
American Nuclear Society
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unauthorizedinformalinformative
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Energy Policy Act of 2005
Nuclear
New Plant Construction
RD

• Loan guarantees
• Risk assurance
• Production tax credit
• Price-Anderson
• Decommissioning funds

• Next generation nuclear plant
• Nuclear hydrogen production
• Advanced fuel cycle initiative
• Nuclear engineering program
• Medical isotopes

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US Major Nuclear Initiatives

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• New licensing process
• Department of Energy
• Nuclear Power 2010
• Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP)
• Nuclear Hydrogen
• Generation-IV
• Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI)
• Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)
• Yucca Mountain Project

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Nuclear Power 2010
Current US Nuclear Electric Generation 104
Reactors 100 GWe 20 of total
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Nuclear Power 2010 Initiative

• Federal/private cost sharing
• Early site permitting
• Combined construction/operating license (COL)
• COL application expected 2007-2008
• Construction expected to begin in 2010 following
  NRC issuance of COL

2006 budget appropriation 65.3 million 2007
budget request 54.0 million
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Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP)

• Very high temperature reactor
• Electricity and/or industrial heat applications
• New 8 million contract with industry
• National laboratories working on technology gaps

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Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative

• Part of a larger hydrogen program
• Investigating 2 high temperature approaches
• Thermo-chemical water cracking
• Steam electrolysis
• Budget
• 2006 appropriation 24.8M
• 2007 request 18.7M

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Generation-IV

• Generation-IV International Forum (GIF)
  coordinates international research cooperation on
  advanced nuclear reactors
• Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Euratom, France,
  Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland,
  United Kingdom, United States
• China and Russia to join this year
• US emphasis has been on the Very High Temperature
  Reactor (VHTR) and fast reactors

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Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative

• Advanced aqueous separations
• Advanced pyroprocess methods
• Advanced fuels for transmutation
• Focus on improving repository performance
• Implement advanced safeguards in process and
  facility design
• Budget
• 2006 Appropriation 79.2 million
• 2007 Request 243.0 million

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High Level Waste Repository Program
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Yucca Mountain Repository

• License submittal 2008
• Opening 2017
• DOE paying some utilities for fuel storage
• Adaptive Staging recommended by National
  Research Council in 2003
• Pending legislation

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Senator Domenicis Yucca Mountain Bill

• Authorizes DOE to withdraw 147,000 acres of
  federally owned property
• Replaces arbitrary 70,000 ton capacity with
  scientifically based capacity
• Authorizes infrastructure construction after EIS
• Gives DOE authority to accept and store SNF
• Starts with defense waste and fuel
• After construction permit, legacy civilian fuel
• Withdraws land for rail line
• Changes standard contract to 25 years after
  start of operation of new nuclear plants

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Domenicis bill, continued

• Takes Waste Fund off budget
• Requires NRC to accept legislation as satisfying
  waste confidence for new plant construction
• Basically the bill would integrate DOEs programs
• High level waste program
• Advanced nuclear energy program
• Incorporate some recommendations from the
  National Research Councils staging report

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Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)
The US blueprint for nuclear sustainability
Source www.gnep.energy.gov
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Safeguards
Transparency

• Incorporate into design of new facilities
• Remote, automated intelligent systems
• Materials tracking and process control
• Remote sensing, environmental sampling and
  forensic verification
• International tests and demonstrations
• Continued support for global best practices in
  security and materials accounting

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Reliable fuel services

• Limit sensitive technologies
• Enrichment
• Reprocessing
• Must integrate into existing commercial uranium
  market
• 17.4 tons HEU pledged by US
• 50 million pledged by NTI/Warren Buffet
• Excellent forum during IAEA General Conference
• http//www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC50/SideEvent
  /report220906.pdf

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Appropriately sized reactors

• 50-350 MWe sized for grid
• Long fuel life infrequent reloading
• Passive safety systems
• Electricity, district heating, potable water
• IAEA safeguards
• Physical protection from terrorism
• RD needed

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Proliferation resistant recycle

• UREX and Pyroprocessing
• Remote fuel fabrication
• Integrated safeguards

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Minimized nuclear waste

• Employ advanced recycle
• Custom waste forms
• Manage heat load
• Manage radiotoxicity

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Advanced Burner Reactor

• Sodium cooled
• Fast neutron spectrum
• Transmutation
• Naturally safe

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GNEP Technology Demonstrations

• Advanced Burner Reactor
• Advanced Fuel Cycle Facility
• Advanced modeling and simulation
• and industrial application
• Consolidated fuel treatment center

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Trends in nuclear engineering enrollment
1,831
DOE Investment ( in Millions)
Number of Students
HBCU/HSI Student Enrollment
DOE Investment
70
US DOE August 2006
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US Nuclear Initiatives Aimed at nuclear expansion
American Nuclear Society
Thank you!
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