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Nuclear Power’s New Age

OVER the next few months America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) expects to receive 12 applications to build new nuclear-power reactors at seven different sites. It is preparing to see plans for another 15 at 11 more locations next year. These will be the first full applications to build new nuclear plants in America for 30 years. If they are all successful, the number of reactors in the country will increase by roughly a third. The output of nuclear electricity would grow even more sharply—the new reactors would be more powerful than older ones. The new enthusiasm for building reactors means America’s long-awaited “nuclear renaissance” is about to become reality. The Economist.

For this electrical engineer, Nuclear power has clearly been the way out from the stranglehold that oil has on our economy and national policy.

The whole dynamics of the politics of the Middle East would be changed if oil consumption was dropped by even 5%. The Middle East only has importance because of oil.

Switching from oil to nuclear and hence an electricity based economy has many advantages, the drilling/pumping/shipping/refining of oil is a long and expensive process. Subject to many layers of environmental and governmental regulations not to mention the whims of third world dictators who want to be “noticed”.

We have the infrastructure to move electricity, all of us already have the distribution network in our houses. And if you are worried about global warming it is the power of choice of the co-founder of Greenpeace, Lovelock. Yeah, didn’t you hear that?

Electric cars (which don’t need Nuclear power to be practical) are models of simplicity, no transmission, no engine / transmission oil and no tailpipe emissions. Biggest hurdle is there is no waste heat to use for heat during our cold New England winters, plus if the car is battery powered there is the problem of cold cranking amps (batteries lose power as the temperature drops). Now, my old VW Beetle had a small gasoline powered heater. So, there are work arounds. The beetle was air cooled, so there was no radiator to pull heat from for the passengers, thus requiring other forms of heat.

The downside to electric cars is the government will have to invent new methods for taxation, “excuse me, is that electricity being used for an electric car? There will be a surcharge.” How will they know? And of course the pain in the arse automobile emissions test will useless, just like the current testing is. Ah, folks, modern electronic controlled cars don’t need adjustment. What’s to fail?

The French get 3/4’s of their electric power from Nukes. Giving them the ability to be just so arrogant in their foreign policies. The French also standardized on one design. Making the approval process quicker and hence cheaper. Also making training and quality control alot easier and cheaper.

And after the plant is built, Nuclear power is considerably cheaper.

According to the Energy Information Administration, a government agency, the average wholesale power price in 2005 was 5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh); the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group, reckons that the average operating cost of America’s nuclear plants was 1.7 cents per kWh that year. So their margins were almost 200%.

To speed things up even more, the NRC is allowing firms selling nuclear reactors to get designs cleared in advance. That way, when a utility applies to build a reactor of an approved design, the NRC will only need to review the modifications that are unique to its site. Westinghouse has already got its AP-1000 model cleared; the NRC is in the process of certifying GE’s latest design, called the ESBWR, and AREVA is about to submit an application for its new offering, the EPR

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