 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
National Energy Policy: Nuclear Energy
Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
Mr. William D. Magwood
Several U.S. electric utilities are considering building new nuclear power plants in the United States in the very near term. Just a few years ago, many analysts were projecting the decline of nuclear power. They believed that few utilities would long operate their nuclear power plants. Reality has proven these projections to be wrong. Dozens of plants have already begun or will soon begin the NRC license renewal process -- most, if not all, are expected to follow. The reasons for this reversal of nuclear fortunes are very clear: 1) Nuclear plants have performed exceedingly well. As a group, U.S. nuclear utilities have improved the availability of their plants from about 70 percent in 1990 to close to 90 percent today and are producing electricity at about 2 cents per kilowatt-hour (about the same as the most efficient natural gas plants); 2) Consolidation of the nuclear utility industry is leading to the formation of large nuclear utilities with tremendous efficiencies and expertise in operations, maintenance, and training and who have a long-term interest in nuclear power; and 3) The NRC has reformed its operation and has, with the success of its license renewal process, proven itself to be a fair and consistent regulator with which industry can work to continue operating new plants and potentially build new ones. Because nuclear power has many benefits -- it emits neither health-harming pollutants nor carbon dioxide -- DOE has played and is playing a key role in addressing issues that might become obstacles to its future expansion. Our Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization (NEPO) program helps ensure the long-term reliability and economy of current nuclear plants to continue delivering reliable and economic energy beyond their initial 40-year license. We are working with NRC and industry to make advanced U.S. nuclear plant designs -- such as have been and are being constructed in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan -- deployable in the U.S. in the near term. We are working with NRC to make gas-cooled reactors such as the Gas-Turbine Modular Helium Reactor and the Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor licensable in the U.S. in the next few years. Finally, DOE is leading the international community in the development of Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems. Gen IV technologies represent the next step in nuclear power technology and will result in nuclear systems that will be economically competitive with all alternatives, employ enhanced characteristics which will have safety, waste minimization, and nonproliferation benefits, and live up to the promises made by nuclear technologists in the early years of Atomic power. STATEMENT Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am William D. Magwood, IV, Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. My office is charged to apply the science, engineering, and art of nuclear technology to address a wide range of civilian requirements. We support research and provide radioisotopes to find new treatments for cancer. We provide the advanced power systems without which the United States cannot explore the solar system. We develop new, advanced technologies to deal with spent nuclear fuel. But our core and most important mission-especially in these days of energy supply concern- is the development of advanced nuclear energy technologies to satisfy the energy needs of the United States in a clean, safe, and cost-effective manner. Our program has undergone a dramatic transformation in the last three years. With the completion of the advanced light water reactor program in fiscal year 1998, we saw our nuclear energy research budget essentially fall to zero. With a great deal of planning and hard work; advice from our independent advisory committee, the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC) and its many subcommittees and task forces; and effective and focused support from the Congress, we have turned the program around. Our office is now focused on three key missions: . Supporting R&D that enhances nuclear power 's viability as part of the U.S. energy portfolio. . The support for irreplaceable U.S. nuclear R&D infrastructure, both in the Government and in U.S. universities; and . Support for students and programs to develop the human capital required to preserve a viable future for nuclear technology in the United States. While I will touch on all of these key missions in my statement today, I will primarily focus on the first one to provide you with information regarding our technology activities and how they impact the future of nuclear energy in the United States. Recent Developments: A Path to a Viable Future for U.S. Nuclear Energy First, however, I would like to provide you with some context for our efforts. Just a few years ago, many analysts were predicting the end of nuclear energy in the United States. Many predicted that-in the face of electric industry competition-large numbers of nuclear power plants would be shut down before the end of their 40-year licenses and the amount of energy generated by U.S. plants would slowly erode. Many believed that nuclear couldn't compete-that U.S. utilities would turn away from their plants, largely forego license renewals, and invest in alternative sources of electric generation. Reality has proven these forecasts to be incorrect. For the most part, it was always clear that the picture would be brighter than the worse predictions foresaw. But few, even those of us who watch nuclear industry developments closest, would have predicted the turn-around that is occurring today. This reversal of nuclear fortunes has reinforced the Department's re-energized nuclear R&D activities. We perceive three key reasons for this change in the United States: 1) Performance of nuclear utilities. Little more than a decade ago, U.S. nuclear power plants were generating electricity only about 70% of the time. Today, the average is approaching 90%. U.S. nuclear plants rank high when compared with the nuclear plants of other countries and compare very favorably with other sources of generation in the United States. In fact, the average nuclear plant in the U.S. produces electricity at only about two cents per kilowatt-hour -- far below the average U.S. market price and about the same as the most efficient natural gas-fired power plants. Moreover, our colleagues at the Energy Information Administration (EIA) have just reported that U.S. nuclear power plants broke another record, producing more electricity in the year 2000 than ever before -- despite the closure of eight less efficient units over the last decade. 2) Consolidation of the nuclear utility industry. Because of the performance of U.S. plants, they have become attractive targets for acquisition. We are now seeing the formation of large nuclear utilities in the United States that more closely resemble the large nuclear-focused power companies in countries like Japan. Instead of many utilities owning one or two plants, we expect that there will soon be far fewer nuclear utilities, with each owning a dozen or more plants. The highly successful Exelon Corporation is a prototype of what appears to be taking shape in this country. This development not only provides for considerable efficiencies of scale in parts, training, and other aspects of operation, but it has two other benefits of possibly greater import. First, consolidation exploits a realization that swept through the industry less than a decade ago: that the safest plants were the most cost-competitive plants and that good management was the key to both. As the best operators of nuclear plants acquire more plants, the performance of nuclear plants is likely to increase. Second, as in other countries which plan to build new plants, large utilities with majority nuclear generation have a long-term interest in nuclear power well beyond that of utilities that operate one plant as part of a larger system. 3) Successful management at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Not long ago, many utility executives cited the unpredictability of regulation in the U.S. as a primary barrier to the construction of new plants in the U.S. and an obstacle to utilities seeking license renewals to operate their nuclear power plants for an additional 20 years. NRC has since that time shown itself to be a fair and effective regulator of the nuclear industry. Its process to approve the renewal of the operating license for the Calvert Cliffs plant and later for the three-unit Oconee plant was a tremendous success for both the Commission and the industry. Completed years earlier and millions less expensively than most analysts predicted, these first license renewals proved that the industry could rely on the NRC for fair, stable, effective, and predictable regulation. Thirty-three nuclear power plants are entering the renewal process now and informal contacts with utility executives now indicate that the overwhelming majority-if not all-of U.S. nuclear power plant owners are planning to apply for license renewals for their nuclear units. Maintaining a strong option to build new nuclear power plants to meet near and long-term energy needs is not an end unto itself for the United States. Nuclear power plants provide important benefits that are not found with other energy options. Nuclear plants do not emit pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, mercury, or particulates that affect human health. Nor do nuclear plants emit carbon dioxide. These plants have proven to be highly reliable in all weather conditions, cost-effective in operation, and act as crucial anchors to the national electric grid. That said, like all sources of energy, nuclear power has issues with which we must deal. Utilities must be certain that the high costs for construction that characterize many plants completed in the late 1980s and early 1990s are not repeated. The United States must successfully resolve the nuclear waste issue. And any remaining public concern over the safety of nuclear plants must be fully addressed. As I conclude my remarks, I will discuss the challenges ahead including some of the barriers that must still be overcome to enable the United States to maintain a strong nuclear energy option for the future. With this backdrop, I would like to highlight what the Department is doing in the nuclear energy arena. We are active in three areas that affect the future of nuclear energy: . We are supporting cooperative research with the utility industry to develop advanced technologies to enable existing nuclear power plants to operate reliably and cost-effectively into the long-term; . We are pursuing technology and institutional activities to clear the way for near-term deployment of nuclear power plants in the United States; and . We are leading a world-wide effort to develop standard, next-generation nuclear energy technologies that could enable nuclear power to fully meet the promise our predecessors saw in the 1950s and 1960s. Technology for Current Plants: Building on Success To discuss the prospects for new nuclear power plants in the United States, it is essential that existing U.S. plants be successful-both in terms of safety performance and in terms of economic competitiveness. The industry has made impressive strides to meet this condition, particularly over the last decade. The Department assisted in making some of this performance possible through its past programs to develop high-burnup nuclear fuel (which has enabled utilities to reduce their fuel costs by half, saving some $200 million each year) and to reduce occupational radiation exposures by 67% since 1985. Now we enter a new phase. As U.S. plants receive license renewals, they must be prepared to operate for an additional 20 years-a total of 60 years--far longer than nuclear plants have been operated to date. While NRC's license renewals confirm that safety will not be impacted as these plants operate for the long term, it is less clear what long-term operation means for reliability and cost-effectiveness. The application of advanced technologies can also continue the process of enhancing safety. The Department's Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization (NEPO) program plays a vital role in ensuring that current nuclear plants can continue to deliver reliable and economic energy supplies up to and beyond their initial 40-year license period by resolving open issues related to plant aging, and by applying new technologies to improve plant economics, reliability, and availability. The NEPO program is cost-shared with industry through the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and is conducted in close cooperation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The research conducted under the NEPO program is identified, prioritized, and selected with broad input from utilities, national laboratories, the Department's Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC), and other stakeholders. With dozens of projects underway, this program demonstrates the Department's ability to lead without massive funding: about 60 percent of NEPO funding is provided by industry and the suite of projects focuses on areas that industry would not have pursued on its own-projects that look at the long-term and focus on the need for a stable, reliable, non-polluting electricity source for the United States. Near-Term Deployment: Advanced State-of-the-Art Nuclear Energy Technology for this Decade Third generation nuclear power plants have been very successful in several countries. Advanced plants based on U.S. technology have been and are being constructed in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan and are expected to be selected by other countries in the coming years. We believe that small but important enhancements to these plants (which have been referred to as "Gen III+" designs) could help make them state-of-the-art and deployable in the United States by 2010. As part of its Nuclear Energy Technologies activities, the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology is working cooperatively with both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the domestic commercial nuclear industry in several activities focused on supporting the potential near-term deployment of new nuclear generating capacity in the U.S. in the next five to ten years. Working with both the public and private sectors, we are reviewing the current regulatory requirements associated with designing, licensing, siting and constructing new nuclear-based electricity generating facilities to identify areas where changes in the regulatory requirements could be beneficial to both public and private sectors. Working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we are developing a new regulatory framework for advanced gas reactor technologies that recognizes the inherent differences between the light water technology-based regulations that currently govern the regulatory requirements. Working with the nuclear utility industry, we will be developing a demonstration program for early site permitting of potential new generation facilities whether it be new plants on new sites or, more likely, at sites upon which current nuclear plants are operating. This latter activity holds particular interest for us. We believe that many of the difficult issues associated with siting new facilities of any kind can be avoided in the case of new nuclear plants in the United States. Many operating U.S. nuclear plant sites were designed with four or six reactors in mind and currently host far fewer. This provides a tremendous opportunity for expansion in this country and we, working with industry, will examine the issues closely. Finally, through NERAC, we are working with industry to develop a report identifying technical, regulatory, and institutional issues which must be addressed and a delineation of those the actions necessary to successfully deploy new nuclear reactor facilities in the U.S. by 2010. The report on near-term deployment opportunities will be available in September 2001. ERI and I-NERI: A Peer-reviewed Path to Advanced Nuclear R&D The Department's Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI), a competitive, peer-reviewed research and development selection process to fund researcher-initiated R&D proposals from universities, national laboratories, and industry, has reinvigorated the Nation's nuclear energy R&D organizations. Focused on research to address the potential long-term barriers to expanded use of nuclear power -- economics, safety, proliferation resistance, and waste minimization -- the NERI program is yielding innovative scientific and engineering R&D in nuclear fission and reactor technology. Initiated in FY 1999, there are currently 55 projects underway with an additional 15 projects expected to be selected for award in FY 2001. This program signaled the return of the United States to nuclear R&D, but a return that reflected important lessons learned and a new appreciation for harnessing outside expertise to focus the research. NERI has, despite its limited funding, gone a long way to reinvigorate nuclear R&D in this country. In FY 2001, the Department is launching the International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative, or I-NERI, to sponsor innovative scientific and engineering research and development conducted by joint teams of U.S. and foreign researchers. Established as a cost-shared R&D program, the primary program objectives of the I-NERI are to: . Develop advanced concepts and scientific breakthroughs in nuclear fission and reactor technology to address and overcome the principal technical and scientific obstacles to the expanded use of nuclear energy worldwide; . Promote bilateral and multilateral collaboration with international agencies and research organizations to improve the development of nuclear energy; and . Promote and maintain the U.S. nuclear science and engineering infrastructure to meet future technical challenges. We are in the final stages of signing I-NERI agreements with France and South Korea. We are negotiating agreements with Japan and South Africa, which we hope to conclude this year. We also expect to conclude I-NERI agreements with the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and with Euratom. When implemented, these agreements will magnify modest U.S. investments in R&D many times over with great benefit to both the United States and our research partners. Generation IV: Realizing the Original Promise of Nuclear Energy The Department initiated the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Project (or more simply, the "Gen IV Project") in January 2000, by convening a meeting of senior policy officials from interested countries. Representatives of nine countries participated in this initial discussion and considered the long-term interest of the countries in the application of nuclear energy, the international interest in advanced nuclear technologies, the barriers that might prevent the future expansion of nuclear energy, and the interest of the representatives in exploring potential multilateral research projects to explore and develop new technologies. These representatives agreed to a Joint Statement regarding the importance of the nuclear energy option to the future and to a process to explore further cooperative activities.1 As a result of this meeting, and subsequent meetings, the participants are currently exploring the formal creation of a Generation IV International Forum (GIF) to pursue multilateral coordination and cooperation with the goal of identifying and developing Gen IV technologies that could address the factors impacting the expansion of nuclear energy internationally: economic competitiveness of building and operating nuclear energy systems; remaining concerns regarding nuclear safety and proliferation; and the challenge of minimizing and dealing successfully with nuclear wastes. The Technology Roadmap A specially chartered subcommittee of the U.S. Government's Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC) is providing guidance to the Department of Energy 's (DOE) efforts to create a Generation IV Technology Roadmap-a document which will identify and set research and development paths for the most promising technologies. Professor Neil Todreas of MIT and Dr. Sol Levy, a world-respected pioneer in commercial nuclear power who is a retired manager from General Electric, co-chair this ambitious effort and have brought together a highly experienced team to oversee the Roadmap effort. We believe that to be successful, future nuclear energy technologies must be broadly acceptable-that is, meet the needs of many nations and not only those of the United States. As a result, consistent with the requirements of the United States, the Department is pursuing the Gen IV Project as an international effort-through the GIF. Together, approximately 150 senior, experienced engineers and scientists from at least 10 countries will work together to create the Gen IV Technology Roadmap. We have found that U.S. leadership has been essential to this process and that without the Department's initiative, this type of effort would not have been possible. This Roadmap is scheduled to be completed by the end of FY 2002 and will: . Draw upon a wide range of experts from government, national laboratories, industry, and academia; . Set ambitious technology goals for next-generation systems; . Identify the most promising concepts for advanced nuclear energy systems to meet future energy needs; and . Identify the R&D activities needed to develop these concepts and make them ready for commercial deployment. What are Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems? The international community has deployed over 400 nuclear reactors to produce power, with new projects underway in several countries. Most operating plants are based on the experience gained from the first generation of nuclear plants that were built and operated in the late 1950's and early 1960's. These demonstrations of the practicality of nuclear power enabled second generation plants to be built all over the world, including over 100 in the United States. The lessons learned from the second generation plants led directly to the development and deployment of third generation (i.e., advanced light water) nuclear plants beginning in the 1990's. The next generation, Generation IV nuclear energy systems, would take the next step in the evolution of nuclear power plant design. Finding new approaches-some of which have been postulated in NERI projects-to make nuclear power more cost-effective while further enhancing safety and proliferation-resistance will enable nuclear energy to fulfill the role envisioned in the early days of the development of atomic fission. To develop these new technologies, ambitious but achievable technology goals are required against which technology concepts can compete and toward which research activities can strive. NERAC developed initial draft technology goals for Gen IV systems earlier this year and while they continue to be refined, they have been largely accepted by the international research community. The Gen IV goals reflect the need for future nuclear energy systems to build upon the world's experience with nuclear technology and develop systems that can be fully competitive with any other form of energy production. These goals represent new thinking in the nuclear community, a recognition that nuclear energy must fully support all our economic, environmental, and societal ambitions. We expect that these goals will be finalized before the end of this Spring and become a standing testament to the determination of the world nuclear technology energy community that nuclear energy must continue its development and meet its initial promise as a widely used source of energy, providing benefit to all the world's peoples. Challenges Ahead: Much Work Remains Despite the United States' long experience with nuclear power and the promising outlook for near-term deployment of new nuclear power facilities, there remain important challenges to expanding the successful application of nuclear technology. These, in addition to the activities discussed above, are the focus of the Department's efforts. Foremost, we must continue the hard but essential work of dealing with disposal of spent nuclear fuel. In this connection, the Department's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management continues the scientific work and step-wise process for a Secretarial decision on whether or not the Yucca Mountain site should be recommended to the President. Congressional support for this process is essential. Next, we must recognize and deal with the nuclear energy research facility infrastructure within both the Department's national laboratories and the Nation's university nuclear engineering programs. Over the last eight years, the Department lost four irreplaceable research reactors and terminated a major project to build a replacement facility. Working with the NERAC, we completed a Nuclear Science and Technology Infrastructure Roadmap last year which raised a large number of questions for the Department to address in determining the future course of DOE facilities and their ability to support expanded needs for research. Without such capacity, enhancing our nuclear R&D activities will become increasingly difficult. As a result, we and our colleagues at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are looking overseas to countries such as Russia to request access to research facilities. As Congress requested last year, we are completing a program plan on Advanced Accelerator Applications, exploring the potential of a new type of research facility to meet U.S. needs in the 21st Century. We will soon issue a report to Congress on the analysis we have completed to date. Finally, we are very concerned about the state of the Nation's nuclear technology education infrastructure. Through our University Fuel Assistance and Support program, the Department provides direct financial support to the Nation's 28 remaining university nuclear engineering programs and associated university research reactors. This assistance has shown positive effects in recent years-the decline in students appears to be moderating. But funding is very limited and many important university-based research facilities are in financial trouble. Worse, the number of U.S. students earning degrees in nuclear-related fields is far lower than the annual need. We look forward to working with Congress to consider these issues. We support the Vice President's interagency task force which is developing a much-needed, comprehensive strategy to the Nation's energy needs. Together, Congress and the Bush Administration will work to plan for our country's energy future and together we will address the issues that face us.
|
|||||||||||
|
