NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE WORLD TODAY: THE PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Author: Global Challenging Group 7

BRIEF REVIEW FOR THE PAST

The initial development of nuclear power reactors can be traced back
to military requirements: 1. to produce plutonium, and 2. to power 2000s
nuclear submarines. At some point, it was realised there is a huge
energy potential to be obtained from uranium which is widely available
and to some extent easier to obtain than coal or oil.(1) Overview for present
1950s
1938 -Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch discovered nuclear fission(3)
1940 -Glen Seaborg discovered plutonium-239(3)
Nowadays, all parts of the world are involved in nuclear power
December 2, 1942 - first nuclear reactor in the history of nuclear power
development.
became operational(2)
August 6, 1945 – atomic bombs were dropped on Hirosima and • HOW MANY: Currently, there are 447 nuclear reactors in
operation in some 30 countries around the world. One of the
Nagasaki.(2)
largest plants is situated in France, where over 76 percent of
After World War II
total electricity generation was derived from nuclear sources
1956 – the British opened the first nuclear power station in the history in
in 2017.(5)
Calder Hall, giving rise to a series of reactors known as graphite-gas.(2)
1979 - accident at Three Mile Island(4) • HOW MUCH: The nuclear power plant market was sized at
around 30 billion US dollars in 2011, and is expected to exceed
1986 - Chernobyl disaster(4)
50 billion US dollars by 2030. The average cost of building one
new reactor for a new plant in the United States is between $6
A lot of protests against nuclear power led to halt in construction of
and $8 billion.(5)(6)
new plant construction in many countries.
• HOW EFFICIENT:
A. Reliable: Nuclear power plants are less susceptible to
shortages because of natural disasters. It is then easily
IMPROVEMENTS FROM PAST TO NOW dispersed all over the world.
2020s B. Less area: For a 1,000 MW plant, site requirements are
estimated as follows: nuclear, 1-4 km2; solar or photovoltaic
Since the first commercial nuclear power station started park, 20-50 km2; a wind field, 50-150 km2; and biomass,
operating in the 1950s(8), there have been several 4,000-6,000 km2.(7)
improvements in reactor technology. Nowadays advanced C. Cleaner: The advanced nuclear reactors that will replace our
nuclear reactors are called generation III and III+. They are existing reactors use much more fuel than present-day
simpler in design and smaller in size(9). Generation III has reactors. Also, it won’t produce air pollution and greenhouse
the following advantages over generation II: gas.
1. reduced construction time and cost
2. easier to operate because of simpler design
3. prolonged 60-year operating life
4. reduced core melt accidents probability
5. increased fuel efficiency and reduced waste
production
Nuclear Electricity Production
In addition to these improvements, the most significant
improvement is incorporating ‘passive safety features’
which ‘do not require active controls or operator
intervention but instead rely on gravity or natural
Global Average Capacity Factor

convection to mitigate the impact of abnormal events’(10).

Beside the development in technology, there is also an
increase in the nuclear generation in almost all regions
around the world. ‘Nuclear output rose most markedly in
Asia, with generation 72 TWh higher than the 2011-2015
average.’ A significant improvement in capacity factor can
be observed(11).

Advanced Nuclear Reactors

Case Study: Small Modulator Nuclear Reactor in development by Nuscale

Under Development by Idaho based company Nuscale, set for 2025(12). Aims to replicate the sun’s energy source by fusion of light
Small size, factory built cutting construction costs and produces no radioactive
Nuclear Fusion hydrogen atoms. Fusion has been in development since the
waste. Can be transported to any place in the world (13). 1950s.
Design adjustable to meet specific energy demands of a given area (13). Provides a virtually limitless energy source that is clean and
safe (17).
Eliminates the risk of weapons proliferation (15).
Produces no high level radioactive waste, Helium is the
Challenges that will need to be overcome: Politics surrounding the project affect funding, only waste produced (17).
still relatively expensive with an estimate of £13 million per reactor (12).
1kg produces the same amount of energy as 10 million kgs
of fossil fuel (16).
References THE FUTURE
Challenges: Requires extremely high temperature (150
1. World nuclear association. Outline History of Nuclear Energy. Available from: http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/ million C) no material on earth can sustain, extremely
outline-history-of-nuclear-energy.aspx [Accessed 18th April 2018]. expensive and lacks the necessary funding (16).
2. Nuclear Energy. History of Nuclear Energy. Available from: https://nuclear-energy.net/what-is-nuclear-energy/history [Accessed 18th April 2018].
3. Touran N. History of Nuclear Energy. Available from: https://whatisnuclear.com/history.html [Accessed 18th April 2018]. Design and construction disagreements among the
4. Wikipedia. Nuclear power. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power#History [Accessed 18th April 2018]. member countries funding the research (16).
5. Statista. Number of operable nuclear reactors as of January 1, 2018, by country. Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/267158/number-of-
nuclear-reactors-in-operation-by-country/ [Accessed 18th April 2018]. Case Study: ITER (Latin for “the way”)
6. Benoit P. The nuclear age. Cornerstones of Freedom. Third Series. New York: Children's Press; 2012.
7. Davor H. Nuclear energy facts. Available from: http://www.our-energy.com/energy_facts/nuclear_energy_facts.html [Accessed 18th April 2018]. Aims to build the world’s largest Tokomak to confine or
8. World nuclear association. Nuclear Power in the World Today. Available from: http://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/
nuclear-power-in-the-world-today.aspx [Accessed 14th April 2018]. compress deuterium (14).
9. World nuclear association. Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors. Available from: http://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-
reactors/advanced-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx [Accessed 14th April 2018].
Hopes to offset the expensive construction costs given
10.Goldenberg SM, Rosner R. Nuclear Reactors: Generation to Generation. Available from: https://www.amacad.org/pdfs/nuclearReactors.pdf [Accessed 11th how sustainable and efficient the energy produced will be.
April 2018].
11.World Nuclear Association. World Nuclear Performance Report 2017. World Nuclear Association. Report number: 004, 2017. Set for 2025.
12.Colman Z. A reactor in Idaho could change the future of nuclear energy — if it survives Trump’s budget. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/
news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/20/a-reactor-in-idaho-could-change-the-future-of-nuclear-energy-if-it-survives-trumps-budget/?utm_term=.
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14.Clery D. UPDATED: Panel backs ITER fusion project’s new schedule, but balks at cost. Available from: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/updated- 17. Conor S. One giant leap for mankind: £13bn Iter project makes breakthrough
panel-backs-iter-fusion-project-s-new-schedule-balks-cost [Accessed 18th April 2018] in the quest for nuclear fusion, a solution to climate change and an age of clean,
15.Prasad S, Abdulla A,Morgan MG, Azevedo IM. Nonproliferation improvements and challenges presented by small modular reactors Progress in Nuclear cheap energy. Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/
Energy, 2015:80,102-109 Available from: www.irgc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Prasad-et-al_Nonproliferation-SMRs.pdf [Accessed 18th April 2018] one-giant-leap-for-mankind-13bn-iter-project-makes-breakthrough-in-the-
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