Infrastructure

Broader baseload

New nuclear technologies promise to deliver low cost, secure and resilient power supplies

New nuclear technologies promise to deliver low cost, secure and resilient power supplies

By Dr Colin Elcoate

Nuclear energy is a fuel source that, combined with other power generation technologies, is an important part in ensuring secure, reliable power supplies for future generations. It offers a long term, low-carbon base load that is sustainable, economic and independent of the external variations of fossil fuel prices and availability.

Nuclear energy offers countries that invest in it a long term legacy for independent, sustainable, economic, low-carbon power. Although the initial investment in this technology is higher than for fossil fuels, there are clear benefits that offset the higher build costs with ongoing lower electricity prices and the security of energy for the future without the reliance on supplies of oil, coal or gas.

Although this article does not advocate the sole use of nuclear energy – in actual fact, a broad base-load of energy sources seems to be the smart choice for the energy needs of today and tomorrow – nuclear energy is probably the most secure and reliant power source available today.

Reliance on imports

Gas and coal power stations in many countries rely on fuel supplies from outside of their borders. In Europe, Russia is the biggest supplier of oil, coal and natural gas to other countries. In the UK, over 50% of gas supplies are imported. Although significant investment in pipeline infrastructures has ensured more import capacity than needed is available, the UK is increasingly reliant on these imports as local gas reserves decline in the North Sea. Indeed, according to Eurostat statistical findings, the UK’s production of primary energy has fallen by more than approximately 12% in the last decade.

Reliance on fuel from outside of a country’s border leaves it vulnerable to changes in policies or politics over which it has no control. Disputes with countries through which fossil fuels are transported pose a risk to the availability and price of imports. Given the changing geo-political environment means there is always some level of threat to the security of external supplies.

Securing greater primary energy production

In Europe, nuclear power is the biggest contributor to primary energy production. With a single fuel reactor pair generating power for many years, it offers stable pricing and independence from external fuel supply. Renewable energy is the fastest growing source of primary energy production in this region and technology is advancing to make its use more viable. Many of the most promising technologies are however, dependent on natural occurrences such as the sun shining or the wind blowing, which makes its availability more unpredictable than other fuel sources.

Improving nuclear safety

There is significant investment in research and development of nuclear technology. The current Generation III and III+ reactors are based on standardised designs to reduce capital investment and construction time. They are designed to be safer, less vulnerable to power interruption or extreme external events, easier to operate and have a lifetime of about 60 years. In these reactors, passive safety systems do not require operator intervention and give the plant resilience to a station blackout (SBO) for prolonged periods.

Generation III and III+ reactor designs significantly reduce the risk of the loss of reactor cooling during abnormal operating conditions. Generation III reactors have been in operation in Japan since the 1990s and III+ designs are currently under construction across the world.

One of the most important safety functions on a nuclear power plant is the continued operation of cooling systems to maintain core cooling and ultimately reduce the risk of core damage and potential fuel melt. At Fukushima, the reactors shut down automatically and emergency cooling systems operated from back-up generators. When the tsunami hit, however, power and cooling were lost and the reactors overheated; resulting in fuel melts, hydrogen explosions and, ultimately, large radiation leaks into the atmosphere.

Relatively simple mechanical equipment such as pumps and valves are key components in many of the reactor safety systems. As well as reducing the dependence on mechanical equipment for reactor safety in new passive safety designs, equipment manufacturers are working closely with the industry to supply more reliable equipment and to address failure modes experienced in extreme events.

The future

Smaller modular reactors (SMRs) with output typically less than 300MW are also being developed and tested. These would allow for inland plants with more restricted cooling water locally available and also for geographies and situations where full scale 1GW+ plants are not required. Such plants would also pose a smaller initial investment and give the opportunity of creating a distributed nuclear power network.

International research into six types of Generation IV reactors is also ongoing, with input from many countries and high investment from established nuclear nations. The designs claim to offer advances in sustainability, economics, safety, reliability, shorter waste half-lives and proliferation-resistance. Technologies can also produce higher energy levels from a fuel source and offer the possibility of using existing radioactive waste as fuel.

The significant investment in nuclear technology could bring greater security to power supplies with some of the Generation IV reactor designs possibly in operation before 2030. Of course, the long-term storage of legacy waste needs to be addressed locally but volumes are small and with some of the SMR and Generation IV reactor technologies that are being researched and developed, this waste may have future potential as a fuel. Further into the future, nuclear fusion is another area of research that has potential for making nuclear energy more appealing by reducing the risks involved.

To support the long-term investment in secure nuclear energy supplies for the future, the industry also needs confidence in the longevity of a supply chain with qualified and experienced manufacturers. A focus on supporting the nuclear power industry requires ongoing research and development and an effective, reactive, global support network that works alongside operators with common knowledge and nuclear expertise. The use of common designs in the Generation III, III+ and, in the future, Generation IV reactors, enables centres of excellence and better sharing of knowledge and experience between countries. Historically, nuclear plant construction has proven expensive with a tendency for projects to overrun timescales and budgets. Supported by experienced, global manufacturers in the supply chain, this can only improve the safety and reliability of nuclear plants as well as making on time, more economic delivery of this technology a reality.

Emerging markets

Most new build opportunities for nuclear power stations are mainly in countries that have already invested in nuclear technology. There are, however, countries where nuclear power is an emerging technology. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are prime examples. Saudi Arabia in particular is faced with huge increases in electrical demand because of rapid industrial and urban expansion and is finding that it requires more of its vast oil and gas resources to support domestic needs. This reduces the amount available for export and increasingly threatens the principal source of revenue for the country.

To address this issue, Saudi Arabia is taking proactive action and developing a broad base load of energy sources to support its power grid, including increases in solar energy and a comprehensive local plan to engage in a nuclear program incorporating operators, regulators and full lifecycle management. It plans to build 16 nuclear reactors to come into use between 2022 and 2030.

Manufacturing companies are also looking to extend their services to support emerging nuclear markets such as Saudi Arabia, with phased plans to invest in local people, manufacturing and aftermarket services to provide long-term support for the growth of the industry.

Secure electricity for all

SPX continues to support the energy market across all its facets. There are still many people that do not have daily electricity supplies and there is a real need to reduce global carbon emissions. Developing nations need support to develop infrastructure and access to knowledge and experience of energy providers, construction experts and manufacturers throughout the supply chain.

There is still much work to do to secure energy supplies for the future. Like Saudi Arabia, the best strategy appears to be to develop a broad base load of energy sources. Ongoing research throughout the power generation industry is developing low cost, economic, safe, low carbon energy and all technologies have their place in providing a secure, stable, reliable power grid.

The investment in new nuclear power, however, gives a real opportunity to increase its contribution to primary power generation and to increase energy security. Once installed, it offers a low cost, environmentally sustainable and resilient energy supply that will last for decades.

(The author is VP Business Development-Power, SPX Flow Technology)

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