A Running Debate on Nuclear Energy

We suppose you could call it a running debate:

Stating that the country's atomic energy program is self-sufficient in terms of human resources, advisor to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Prof MGK Menon on Monday said, "In the past two decades, the country has successfully been able to generate trained people to carry out nuclear energy programs on its own."

Menon goes further:

Menon, a former ISRO chairman, said, "We need nuclear energy because it is a source that does not leave carbon footprint. The development of the country rests upon nuclear energy and hence we need it in abundance."

But do we need it? Switzerland has studies:

Over the past few months, a group of researchers at the Energy Science Center (ESC) of ETH Zurich have carried out an intensive examination of whether the available options will enable Switzerland to scope out a medium-term energy future without nuclear power, as decided by the Swiss Federal Council in May. Their answer was yes.

Well, okay. How?

If the remaining 40 TWh [not supplied by hydro, which is tapped] is to be provided without nuclear energy, this will need a major expansion in new renewable energy sources, mainly photovoltaic, followed by the localized utilization of biomass and finally geothermal energy.

That sounds a little – implausible.

According to the ETH Zurich researchers, flexible gas-fired power stations or electricity imports will be indispensable to cover demand peaks, at least in the short term.

Ah, there we go. Maybe they can import it from France. If this sounds as though the ESC is struggling a bit, just wait:

[F]oreseeable technological development should enable, from 2020 to 2025 onwards, the construction of combined gas-fired power stations in which the CO2 produced can be captured and stored.

Or not. Do read the whole thing, though, for the full perspective. Energy efficiency will also play a big part.

Or ESC could just look next door, at Germany:

The upshot [of keeping eight nuclear facilities closed]: so far, Germany has lost about 10 percent of its power-generation capacity, officials said.

But surely things will improve:

The phase-out was hasty, some say. And by some measures, it has backfired. Despite extensive support for renewable energy, Germany is now producing more carbon emissions. At a time when its economy is already slowing down, businesses are bracing for brown-outs and higher energy prices.

Perhaps Germany can right the energy boat with some imports from France.

I guess one could say that tough decisions lead to tough choices. But let’s let the debate play out:

Helen Caldicott, M.D., will speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 on “Lessons from Fukushima: What role should nuclear energy and natural gas extraction play in our energy future?” The free event, which begins with a concert by recording artist Janet Burgan at 6:30 p.m., will be held in Binghamton University’s Mandela room in the Student Union.

I’m sure Dr. Caldicott will find some kind of a place for nuclear energy and natural gas extraction, don’t you? But at least Ms. Burgan, whose tune “No Fracking Way” is catchy if over-earnest, will provide a little leavening to the dough.

Janet Burgan. From No Fracking Way: “Landsmen came to me one day; No,no, no fracking way; Want to lease my land for pay; No, no, no fracking way; What about the waterway?; No, no, no fracking way; Where our brother fishes play; No, no, no fracking way.” Ms. Burgan’s work doesn’t seem as committed as this generally, though there are titles such as Range War and Trouble in the Fields in her songbook. We looked for a nuclear-themed song by her, but came up dry.

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

How many nuclear plants does it take to meet the world's energy needs?

Several weeks ago Joshua Pearce at Clarion University in Pennsylvania released a study titled “ Thermodynamic limitations to nuclear energy deployment as a greenhouse gas mitigation technology .” In the study he stated... nuclear energy production would have to increase by 10.5% per year from 2010 to 2050 to both replace fossil-fuel-energy use and meet the future energy demands. This line, of course, made the headlines and has been picked up by several outlets and blogs . When looking into his calculations for this statement, he made one assumption error that overstated the above sentence by nearly a factor of three. Page 121, Section 4.1 of the study states: Richard Smalley pointed out that in 2004, the global economy consumed the equivalent of 220 million barrels of oil per day, which converted into electricity terms is the equivalent of 14.5 TeraWatts (TW), or 14,500,000 MegaWatts (MW) (2005). … With a nuclear plant having about 1000 MW (1 GW) of capacity, we would need 14,500...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

NEI Nuclear Notes

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