Sometimes the language around nuclear energy can be confusing. Of course all nuclear technology is advanced technology—it isn’t like sticks and stones. So what exactly is advanced nuclear and what makes it different?
Want to learn more about advanced nuclear? We’re asking the expert, Alison Hahn, NEI’s Technical Advisor of New Nuclear.
What are advanced nuclear reactors?
This is a really good question, because different organizations define it a little bit differently. In the 2018 Nuclear Emergency Innovation Capabilities Act, it was actually defined in part by a fission reactor that has significant improvements above those in operation on December 27th, 2020. And so, what does that mean? So, advanced reactors can still be cooled by light water like the existing fleet is, but it can also be cooled by molten salt, liquid metal, or high temperature gas.
Advanced reactors can use low enriched uranium fuel like the existing fleet does, but it can also use advanced fuels like high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) that is fabricated into tri structural isotopic fuels, TRISO fuel. It can also be metal fuel or even liquid fuel, and then it can also be a gigawatt size like the existing fleet, but it can also be much, much smaller down to the hundreds of kilowatts of electricity as well.
Why is advanced nuclear important?
We need more capacity to respond to the ever-increasing power demand that we’re seeing right now. And nuclear really provides that reliable, resilient capacity that we need. But beyond that, our energy grid is changing dramatically. We’re seeing more industries interested in electrifying and decarbonizing their industries, and advanced reactors can really respond to that. And so, many of these advanced reactors are smaller than what we see today and so that allows them to be sited a lot closer to the end user. So, in the electricity sector, that means that there is less transmission and distribution needed to get the electricity rate to the rate payers.
In the industry side of the house, advanced reactors that utilize high temperature can produce high-temperature process heat for those industries. Because they can be sited right next to the industry, they can be next to that park and be a lot more efficient as well. Beyond that, the smaller scale reactors, the microreactors, fill an entirely different niche. There are a lot of communities that utilize things like diesel fuel to provide their electricity year-round. And so, these microreactors, when they’re being designed, actually have a refueling period of 5, 10, 15 years. So, for these remote communities, you can take these micros there and place them, and then in 10-15 years, come back and pick them up again. It gives that community the electricity and the power that it needs. Then lastly, emergency response.
Can advanced nuclear help traditional nuclear and vice versa?
Absolutely. Both of the groups can learn from each other. A lot of the technologies that are looking to be incorporated into advanced reactors can be incorporated into the existing fleet. An example there is digital technologies. When the existing fleet was built in the 60s and 70s, the control rooms were analog completely. So, as these advanced reactors look to incorporate digital safety systems, that technology can be incorporated into the existing fleet that helps with longevity, parts, replacement, and that also helps with attracting talent within the workforce.
So, that’s one way. Another way is on the regulatory side of the house. As the regulatory organization looks to make these processes more efficient, that will also help the existing fleet to right-size the oversight processes that they currently have.
Is advanced nuclear affordable?
So, historically, when this question was asked, many people looked at only the dollar per megawatt of electricity and just assumed that the least cost option was the best option. And sometimes that could have been the answer. But you’re not looking at the whole system when you look at it just on that one individual component. When you take a step back and look at the whole system, you need to consider the efficiency of the generation technologies. Whether there’s potential storage needs that’s required, transmission and distribution lines, and other system costs need to be taken into account. And when you look at that broadly, nuclear energy actually comes in as one of the least cost options.
There was a study done by Vibrant Clean Energy that took a look at that whole system and found when nuclear energy was at 43% of the generation technologies, that was the least cost option. And on the flipside of that, when they look at renewables being 77% of the generation capacity it was almost $400 billion more expensive. So, looking at it broadly is important.
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