New nuclear technology (Alan Waltar)

New Nuclear Technology Tulane Engineering Forum Tulane University April 5, 2013

Alan E. Waltar Senior Advisor, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Retired) Former Professor and Head, Dept. Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University Past President, American Nuclear Society

Outline I. Importance of Electricity II. Role of Nuclear Energy III. New Nuclear Energy Prospects IV. Non-Nuclear Energy Technology V. Economic Impact of Nuclear Technology

Global Energy Distribution

The American Scene History of U.S. operating plants prior to Fukushima

U.S. Nuclear Plant Uprates Cumulative Capacity Additions at Existing Plants 2000-2011* 6,000

1,383 MWe Expected 5,000

2,964 MWe Approved

4,000

2,964 MWe Approved

3,000

2,000

1,000

0 2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

* 5726 MWe added to existing fleet since 1977 (as of July 2010)

Sustained Reliability and Productivity U.S. Nuclear Capacity Factor, Percent 100 90 80

89.3% in 2005 89.6% in 2006 91.8% in 2007 91.1% in 2008 90.5% in 2009 91.2% in 2010 89.0% in 2011

70

60 50

'80

'85

'90

Source: Energy Information Administration

Updated: 3/12

'95

'00

'05

'10

Net Effect of Power Upgrades and Higher Capacity Factors The Equivalent of Approximately Two Dozen 1000 MWe Nuclear Plants Have Been Added to the Grid

Investing for the Future: License Renewals and Uprates Continue Approved

73

License Renewals 17 Unannounced

13

1

Under NRC Review

Intend to Renew

Total Capital Spending

Cumulative Power Uprates 10,000

Under Review and Expected - 2,654 MWe by 2017 Approved - 6,191 MWe

8,000 6,000

Billions of Dollars

8.0

6.0

4.0

4,000 2.0

2,000 0 1977 2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

0.0 1990

1993

Sources: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Electric Utility Cost Group

1996

1999

2002

2005

2008

2011

Two New Reactor Site Projects Vogtle 3 & 4  2,200 workers now on the project  3,000 during peak construction  600 to 800 permanent jobs when the new reactors are operating

V.C. Summer 2 & 3  1,000 workers now on the project  3,000 during peak construction  600 to 800 permanent jobs when the new reactors are operating

Watts Bar Unit 2 Construction Renewed

• Construction

began in 1973 • Construction suspended in 1985 • Approval in April 2012 to continue construction • Completion scheduled for fall of 2015

Planned New Plants USA*

*US *USNRC NRC March March24, 24,2011 2011

Evolution of Reactor Designs

Comparison of 4 LWRs: Gen III

Nuclear Units Under Construction and Planned Worldwide China Russia India USA Japan S. Korea UAE Ukraine Argentina Iran Pakistan France China, Taiwan Slovakia Brazil Finland

26

51

11 7 5 2 10 4 5 13 22 11 2 2 11 21 2 1 1

17 18 11

Under construction

Planned

Totals:  68 units under construction*  160 units on order or planned**

Sources: International Atomic Energy Agency and project sponsors for units under construction and World Nuclear Association for units on order or planned. *Chart includes only countries with units under construction. **Countries planning new units are not all included in the chart.

Planned units = Approvals, funding or major commitment in place, mostly expected in operation within 8-10 years.

Updated: 10/12

CHINA: 24 Nuclear Power Plants Now Under Construction...Now 26!

Table from 3 years ago NPP

Type

Power (MWe)

Status

Qinshan-1

PWR

300

Operation

Qinshan-2

PWR

2×600

Operation

PWR

2×600

Construction

Qinshan-3

PHWR

2×720

Operation

Daya Bay

PWR

2×900

Operation

Lingao

PWR

2×944

Operation

PWR

2×944

Construction

Tianwan

PWR

2×1000

Operation

Sanmen

PWR

2×1000

Planned

Yangjiang

PWR

2×1000

Planned

Hongyanhe

PWR

2×1000

Construction

Haiyang

PWR

2×1000

Planned

Fuqing

PWR

6×1000

Suggestion

Ningde

PWR

6×1000

Suggestion

INDIA: 17 Operating Stations TAPS-1&2 (2 x 160 MWe)

Oct., 1969/ Oct., 1969

TAPS-3&4 (2 x 540 MWe)

Jul., 2006/ Sept., 2005

RAPS-1&2 (100 & 200 MWe)

Dec., 1973/ April 1981

RAPS-3&4 (2 x 220 MWe)

Jun., 2000/ Dec., 2000

MAPS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

Jan., 1984/ Mar., 1986

NAPS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

Jan., 1991/ Jul., 1992

KAPS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

May, 1993/ Sept., 1995

KGS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

Nov., 2000/ Mar., 2000

KGS-3 220 MWe

MAY 2007

6 NPPs Under Construction

Implications of the Near Halt in Construction of New U.S. Nuclear Power Plants in Last Couple Decades

• Key Professionals Retired or Lost to Industry • Few Professionals Coming into the Industry • Manufacturing Plants Shut Down • Hence, New Construction Cost Much Higher in the Renaissance that began about 5 years ago

Utilities now “bet the farm” on new, large plants

Hence, the Principal Drivers for Small Modular Reactors • • • • • • •

Reduced capital costs per plant Meet electrical growth incrementally Shorter construction schedules (modular construction) Enhanced safety and security (some Fukushima influence) Improved quality (in-factory construction) Replace aging coal plants Re-establish U.S. leadership (largely lost during last two

decades)

• Create good domestic jobs • Serve international markets (with limited electrical infrastructure)

U.S. LWR-based SMR designs for electricity generation

SMR (Westinghouse)

225 MWe

mPower (B&W) 180 MWe

HI-SMUR (Holtec) NuScale (NuScale) 160 MWe 45 MWe Compliments of Dan Ingersoll

Gas-cooled reactor designs Able to provide high-temperature process heat

American Design

MHR (General Atomics) 280 MWe

French Design

ANTARES (Areva) 275 MWe

Fast spectrum reactor designs ((Liquid Metal Cooled) Able to provide improved fuel cycles …………….Sodium-Cooled………………………………

PRISM (General Electric) 300 MWe

4S (Toshiba, Japan)

10 MWe

…Lead-Bismuth Cooled…

SVBR-100 (AKME Engineering, Russian Federation)

100 MWe

Non-Power Applications of Nuclear Technology Overview

AGRICULTURE • Optimizing Water and Fertilizer Use • Speed Breeding of Improved Crops – Greater yield – Increased disease resistance – Better nutritional value

• Improved Animal Production – Increase body weight – Vaccines to eliminate diseases

• Insect Control – Sterilization (screw worm, Mediterranean fruit flies, gypsy moths)

• Improved Food Safety (Food Irradiation) – Kill bacteria, molds, yeasts, parasites, insects – Extend shelf life

MODERN INDUSTRY • Process Control – Thickness Gauges (sheet metal, paper, textiles) – Density & Level Gauges (oil and food industries)

Plant Diagnostics – Tracers (pipeline leaks, malfunctions, wear and corrosion)

• Materials Development – Cross linking (e.g. heat shrink) – Gamma curing (e.g. floors) – Vulcanization (e.g. tires)

• Materials Testing and Inspection – Engine wear – Welds in airplanes, oil and gas pipelines – Corrosion in pipes

Nuclear Gauges Film Thickness

Paper Thickness

QUALITY CONTROL Beverage Level

Oil Level

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi

Bore Hole Logging with Nuclear Source & Detector System

INDUSTRY (CONT.)

•Personal Care –Contact lens solution –Band-Aids, –Cosmetics –High absorption baby diapers –Soft drinks

Cosmetics‌Irradiated to Remove Harmful Impurities

New Demands for Electricity in Transportation Sector • Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles & EVs • Charge off-peak

GM Volt/ Ampera 16,000 in 2012

 Increase proportion as base-load Compliments Ian Hore-Lacey

SPACE EXPLORATION • Heat Generation • Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU) • Pu-238 excellent heat source (87.7 yr half-life)

• Electricity Generation – Radio-Thermal Generators (RTG) • Direct conversion to electricity (~ 7% efficiency)

– Dynamic Isotope Power System (DIPS) • Pu-238 still excellent heat source • Rankine cycle active system (~20% efficiency)

• Nuclear Reactors • For Missions > 100 KW

= Radioisotope Heater Generator Unit RTG =RHU Radioisotope Thermoelectric

Radioisotope Power Sources Used on Galileo Spacecraft

The Mars rovers use radioisotope heat sources to keep warm during the night

Compliments of Dr. Harold McFarland

Environmental Protection …..ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION…..

Determine 1) Amounts and Locations of Pollution 2) Causes of Pollution 3) Proper Remedy

• Managing Fresh Water Resources – Preserving and Obtaining Potable Water Sources

• Guarding the Oceans – Coastal Zones and the Deep Seas

• Understanding Soil Erosion – Loss of topsoil and erosion of waterways

• Radiological Contamination – Weapons production and commercial power

• Polluting our Atmosphere – Brown Clouds and global climate change

• Energy & the Environment

MEDICINE • Sterilization of Medical Products – Surgical dressings, sutures, catheters, syringes

• New Drug Testing – Over 80% of all new drugs tested with radioactive tagging before approval – Between 200 and 300 radiopharmaceuticals in routine use

• Medical Imaging (~90%) – Diagnose the ailment

• Therapy (~10%) • Cure the ailment NOTE: Much of the material on medicine was supplied

by Professor Ilham Al-Qaradawi. Qatar University

Numbers of Patients Benefiting from Nuclear Medical Techniques • Over 12 million/year in the U.S. • Over 30 million/year globally • 1 in 3 patients entering U.S. hospitals or medical clinics benefit from nuclear medical techniques

Types of Medical Imaging (Diagnostics ~ 90% of nuclear procedures)

• X-ray (teeth, broken bones, mammograms…)

• CT (Computerized Tomography, “3D X-ray”) • Radiotracers • Planer Scintigraphy • SPECT (single photon emission computerized tomography) • PET (positron emission tomography)

•MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Volumetric CT < 0.4 sec/rotation Organ in a sec (17 cm/sec) Whole body < 10 sec

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi

PET/CT scanner CT

PET

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi

18F-FDG PET/CT

Courtesy HSR MILANO

HSR MILANO

MRI of upper torso (courtesy NASA)

WNU-SI 2010

Oxford - UK

MRI of knee

MRI of shoulder

Resolution Capability of the Major Nuclear Imaging Techniques Imaging Technique CT MRI SPECT PET

Resolution 0.3 mm 0.3 mm 7 mm 4 mm

Medical Therapy ~ 10 % of nuclear procedures

– First applied to Thyroid Cancer (20,000 patients/year) – Blood Irradiation – Other Cancer (prostate, breast, brain, liver, etc.)

• External – External Beam Radiation – Protons – Hadron • Internal – BNCT (boron neutron capture)

– Cell Directed » Placed inside the body » Smart bullets

– Decrease pain of bone cancer

The authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 109 seeds of I-125

Monoclonal Antibodies “Smart Bullets”

• Specialized Radioisotopes are attached to unique molecules that target specific organs • Radiation is then applied to only those targeted organs •Alpha emitters are particularly powerful

Major Challenges of Monoclonal Antibody Applications â&#x20AC;˘ Developing chemical carriers to target only desired cells â&#x20AC;˘ Developing methods to clone specific radioisotopes to the specific chemical carrier â&#x20AC;˘ Making the desired radioisotope

New Medical Frontier: Use of Alpha Irradiation • Alpha very energetic over very short distances • Hence, exceptionally sharp focusing • Showing real promise for many solid tumors ( e.g. inoperable brain cancer )

• Principal Challenge: • Difficulty of Production • Requires neutrons (i.e. reactors)

MODERN ECONOMY Overall Impact in the U.S (using multiplicative economic model)

1991 SALES $ Billions

Radiation 257 Nuclear Power 73 TOTAL =

330

1995

JOBS SALES

JOBS

Millions

$ Billions

Millions

331 90

4.0 0.4

4.1 421

4.4

3.7 0.4

Distribution of Economic and Job Benefits to the US Economy by Radiation Technologies, 1996

Comparison of Radiation Technologies to Fortune 500 Companies

Comparison of Radiation Technologies in US to GDP of Major Countries

Medicine

IG0402007.1

Environment

IG0402007.2

Industry

IG0402007.3

Other Subcategories include: â&#x20AC;˘Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Electricity, Future, Public Safety, Space Exploration, Transportation

IG0402007.4

Medicine

Total

Environment

Industry Other

IG0402007.5

Total

Two-Thirds of the Elements in the Periodic Table Contain Radioisotopes Already Harnessed for Human Benefit

CONCLUSIONS  Nuclear Technology has made enormous contributions to Global Human Life over the past half-century  Nuclear energy provides a major portion of global electricity..and is poised to contribute substantially more in the future  Radioisotopes have made monumental contributions to oiur everyday life – Over 2/3 of the elements in the Periodic Chart have already been commercially harnessed for human benefit.