Nuclear Technology and Energy

1. Nuclear Technology and Energy Per F. PetersonProfessor Department of Nuclear Engineering University of California, Berkeley March 2, 2008

2. Seaborgium Berkelium Americium Lawrencium Neptunium and Plutonium Uranium Californium U.C. Berkeley and Nuclear Science

3. Binding Energy: Why Nuclear Power is Possible • The mass of an atom is smaller than the sum of its parts • The difference is called the “mass defect” • The “binding energy” is the energy required to hold the atom together • E = Dmc2 • If we split or combine atoms, we can release some of the binding energy

4. Energy from Nuclear Fission • Fission Fuel Energy Density: 8.2 x 1013 J/kg • Fuel Consumed by 1000-MWe Plant: 3.2 kg/day • Waste:

5. Energy from Nuclear Fusion • Fusion Fuel Energy Density: 3.4 x 1014 J/kg • Fuel Consumed by 1000-MWe Plant: 0.6 kg/day • Waste:

6. Energy from Fossil Fuels • Fossil Fuel (Coal) Energy Density: 2.9 x 107 J/kg • Fuel Consumed by 1000-MWe Plant: 7,300,000 kg/day • Waste: 2005 Global Coal Consumption: 5.4 billion tons

7. Nuclear has very low life-cycle CO2 emissions

8. France closed its last coal mine in April, 2004

9. California Electricity Consumption 2004

10. Why renewed interest?Improved performance of existing U.S. nuclear plants

11. Reliable Power Production * 2005 Preliminary Source: Global Energy Decisions / Energy Information Administration Updated: 4/06

12. Stable, Low Production Costs Cents per kwhr Production Costs = Operations and Maintenance Costs + Fuel Costs Source: Global Energy Decisions Updated: 6/06

13. The major near-term question: can new nuclear plants be built on schedule, for a reasonable cost, and operate reliably, safely, and securely?

14. Resource inputs will affect future capital costs and competition • Nuclear: 1970’s vintage PWR, 90% capacity factor, 60 year life [1] • 40 MT steel / MW(average) • 190 m3 concrete / MW(average) • Wind: 1990’s vintage, 6.4 m/s average wind speed, 25% capacity factor, 15 year life [2] • 460 MT steel / MW (average) • 870 m3 concrete / MW(average) • Coal: 78% capacity factor, 30 year life [2] • 98 MT steel / MW(average) • 160 m3 concrete / MW(average) • Natural Gas Combined Cycle:75% capacity factor, 30 year life [3] • 3.3 MT steel / MW(average) • 27 m3 concrete / MW(average) Concrete + steel are >95% of construction inputs, and become more expensive in a carbon-constrained economy 1. R.H. Bryan and I.T. Dudley, “Estimated Quantities of Materials Contained in a 1000-MW(e) PWR Power Plant,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TM-4515, June (1974) 2. S. Pacca and A. Horvath, Environ. Sci. Technol., 36, 3194-3200 (2002). 3. P.J. Meier, “Life-Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Systems and Applications for Climate Change Policy Analysis,” U. WisconsinReport UWFDM-1181, August, 2002.

15. New nuclear infrastructure will be more highly optimized 2000: 4-D computer aided design and virtual walk-throughs 1978: Plastic models on roll-around carts McGuire Nuclear Station Reactor Building Models. 2002 NRC processing time for 20-year license renewal: ~18 months 1000 MW Reactor (Lianyungang Unit 1)

16. The new passive light water reactors provide substantial improvements over earlier designs • Capable of safe shutdown without an external heat sink or AC power supply • Large reductions in equipment and building size • Reduced security costs AP-1000 ESBWR

17. New licensing and construction plans call for a high degree of design standardization Current NRC Construction License Review Plan

18. The Generations of Nuclear Energy Source: DOE Generation IV Project

19. Nuclear energy and transportation—Plug-in hybrids and low-carbon fuels

20. World’s Largest Oil Accumulations: What future role for nuclear energy? Source: Roadifer 1987

21. Canadian tar sands provide a very large resource Alberta Athabasca Peace River Fort McMurray Wabasca Cold Lake Edmonton Lloydminster Red Deer Calgary • Production from oil sands in Alberta could be 2.8 million BOPD in 2015, up from 1.2 million BOPD in 2004. • Current tar sands carbon intensity is 15 to 40% higher than for conventional oil production

22. The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor • Being constructed in South Africa • Helium-cooled modular reactor uses “pebble fuel” • Power output options: • 200 MWe gas Brayton cycle • 136 MWe gas Brayton and286 MWt processsteam production • 500 MWt high-temperature process heat • 250 MWc hydrogen • Can be used to producelow-carbon transportationfuels

23. High temperature reactors can make hydrogen directly through for thermo-chemical processes ORNL DWG 2001-102R

24. Nuclear Waste

25. Major international R&D efforts have improved the current understanding of nuclear waste disposal • Broad scientific consensus exists that deep geologic isolation can provide long-term, safe and reversible disposal for nuclear wastes • 25 years of scientific and technical study led to a positive site suitability decision for Yucca Mountain in 2002

26. Geologic Isolation Places Nuclear Wastes Deep Underground Nuclear energy produces small volumes of waste which makes it practical to isolate it from the environment.

27. Long-term Safety Requirements are Stringent Compared to Those for Chemicals The potential long-term impact from geologic disposal is limited groundwater contamination, a problem that current public health systems already understand how to manage 28 miles 640 miles The potential incremental impact from Yucca Mountain in the next 1 million years is small

28. Advanced fuel cycles can impact repository performance • Yucca Mountain’s current legal capacity limit is 63,000 MT of spent fuel • Current U.S. plants will reach this limit in 2014 • Technical limit for the current 2000 acre repository footprint is between 120,000 and 300,000 MT of spent fuel • Advanced fuel cycles that recycle the heavy elements in spent fuel would increase this capacity by a factor of ~ 50x. Under advanced fuel cycles, Yucca Mountain could potentially hold 500 kg/m of fission products in 400 km of drifts (2000 acres), equal to 0.5 trillion tons of coal

29. Repository Licensing Involves Detailed Technical Review • The EPA has issued a draft one million year safety standard for Yucca Mountain • Maximum impact to an individual using ground water must be less than 15 mrem/year up to 10,000 years, less than 300 mrem/year up to 1 million years • Average natural background is 300 mrem/year • DOE has committed to completing a license application in 2008 • Independent review will be performed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission • A decision on a construction license would be reached by2011 • With a construction license for Yucca Mountain, the U.S. will have an approved technology for nuclear waste disposal

30. Conclusions • Recent activity in nuclear energy has been substantial • Improved performance for existing plants • Waste repository site selected in United States • Future remains uncertain • 2005 Energy Bill provisions for new nuclear construction and R&D • New research to demonstrate high-efficiency electricity and hydrogen production

31. Fusion Energy

32. Thermonuclear fusion reaction rates vary strongly with temperature

33. Progress in D-T fusion

34. MFE magnet configurations:complex to simple Externally Controlled Stellarator 3-D coils Planar coils with nested sets Tokamak Low-field external coils RFP Self Organized No toroidal or poloidal coils Spheromak No toroidal field FRC

35. Inertial fusion uses the rocket effect to compress fusion fuel • “Direct” drive: lasers directly heat outside of capsule • “Indirect” drive: lasers or heavy ions (shown) heat inside of a hohlraum, indirectly heating capsule surface

36. NIF is designed as the first ICF driver to achieve ignition and substantial gain • The National Ignition Facility is a 1.8-million joule laser under construction at LLNL NIF Target