Politics Hovers over National Labs

Politics Hovers over National Labs

January 21, 2009

Politics is pervading efforts by the national labs to advance energy research.

Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
Editor-in-Chief

The laboratories all point to nuclear energy's viability as a fuel source, saying that future reactors will be safer, more cost-effective and highly efficient. That will give nuclear energy a regulatory advantage and therefore help such producers raise capital for their projects. Several nations that include the United States have combined to come up with newer and better technologies that purport to be safer and more eco-friendly.

"In this country, the infrastructure is privately owned but the government has to ensure that the nation's long-term interests are served," says John Grossenbacher, director of the Idaho National Laboratory. "We need to begin the discussion in those terms. We need to be pragmatic. We can't fall into the trap of romanticizing or demonizing any energy form. Unfortunately, it's now extraordinarily politicized."

According to the Edison Electric Institute, energy demand in this country is expected to increase by 30 percent by 2030. And during this time period, power generators will be under increasing pressure to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Those dynamics would tend to favor nuclear production, which has increased its average capacity factor from about 70 percent in the 1970s to 90 percent today.

Uncertain political and economic conditions exist, however. Despite that, most of the national research laboratories have dedicated themselves to making nuclear technologies safer and better. The 104 nuclear reactors now operating here are "second generation" light water facilities, all of which operate near capacity. So-called "third generation" light water reactors have been built overseas and particularly in Asia.

Next up: "Fourth generation" reactors, one of which is the Very High Temperature Reactor. The national labs, funded and guided by the U.S. Department of Energy, are responsible for conducting research and development to select an initial design for the modern nuclear reactors and to do so by 2011. By 2021, these institutions are supposed to have picked a final design and construction on reactors is expected to begin.

A key difference between the "third generation" and "fourth generation" very high temperature reactors is that the latter may operate at about three times the temperature of today's light water reactors, which results in higher thermal efficiency and the potential for use in industrial applications and hydrogen production -- making them economically appealing. Advocates furthermore say that the odds of any leaks are near zero.

"We are watching this evolution," says Adam Cohen, deputy associate laboratory director for energy sciences and engineering at Argonne National Laboratory. "France, China, India, South Korea and Russia are hard at work. The same companies that are building reactors there will also build them here. We are not waiting for international input. But we are waiting for economic and political changes to occur."

Right Size Reactors

The International Atomic Energy Agency says nuclear energy now comprises 16 percent of the world's generation mix. It is projecting the use of such power to grow significantly and mainly in Asia. Meantime, this country's collective attitude toward nuclear energy is turning. Roughly 17 licensing applications are under review.

For their part, private nuclear developers must still cope with attracting financing and burying their radioactive waste. To help, Congress has authorized $1 billion in tax credits as well as $500 million in insurance to protect against delays in construction that are directly tied to regulatory logjams. And, the first six reactors to get built in the 21st Century are promised millions in loan guarantees.

Lawmakers have also approved of Yucca Mountain in Nevada to be a permanent repository for nuclear waste. But a series of legal and political obstacles have worked to postpone those plans. Director Grossenbacher says that in the near term, developers can safely store nuclear waste on-site in concrete containers -- an option that would leave open the possibility of later re-processing that material. Long range, however, the nation will need a geological repository.

While nuclear energy proponents are optimistic about new reactor designs and the potential role they might play in producing an increased amount of electricity, opponents remain vigilant. Those Very High Temperature Reactors might work well in the lab, they say, but they are unproven as commercial entities.

Some nuclear researchers say that their attention is targeted on "right-size" reactors, which are smaller and between 100 megawatts and 300 megawatts. Sandia National Laboratories, for instance, is working with other nations in which their transmission grids cannot handle larger generation to implement smaller units that can be used to generate energy and create potable water.

Once the projects are shown to be feasible, the labs can then take various components of the smaller facilities and use them to form a larger base-load facility. That process won't happen overnight. But it is doable in 20 years. "We do need to prove these smaller reactors if we are to eventually build new base load generation," says Les Shephard, vice president of energy and resources at Sandia. "But that demonstration will not be as difficult as many might think."

At home, the challenges are both political and financial. In any event, the national labs will keep working. As such, they are developing advanced light water reactors and helping to design the next generation of nuclear facilities along with private developers. The combined efforts are making headway throughout the world and getting implemented in such nations as China and India.

The ultimate goal is to demonstrate those technologies on a commercial scale. Barriers exist and the task will be difficult. But researchers and developers are confident that they will master the critical issues to enable the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors.

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