The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) extended forecast of electricity consumption requirements—as shaped by demographic trends, migration patterns, and population growth—suggests a 40% increase from current levels by 2030. To put this in perspective, that’s the equivalent of approximately 292 GW of new generating capacity. Considering the availability of fossil fuels, nearly half of the world’s electricity will need to come from nuclear, wind, and solar sources in order to reduce annual global carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Today, carbon-free fuels account for only a third of global power generation.
Revitalizing nuclear power
As part of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, in February 2006 the secretary of energy announced the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP, www.gnep.energy.gov), which revitalized interest in nuclear power and its fuel cycle by setting forth an aggressive strategy for managing and storing used nuclear fuel (UNF) in the U.S. and developing and deploying new nuclear reprocessing and recycling technologies, among others.
In spite of our high expectations for GNEP, there remain immediate challenges to nuclear power: what to do with the existing UNF currently in storage (an EIA survey found that there currently are more than 60,000 metric tons of UNF stored in the U.S.) and the uncertain future of the proposed high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
The only current U.S. option for UNF is the once-through cycle, in which the UNF is sent to a geologic repository that must contain the radioactive by-products for hundreds of thousands of years. This approach is considered safe, provided suitable locations and space are available.
In June, the Department of Energy (DOE) submitted a license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for Yucca Mountain to begin accepting UNF and high-level waste in 2017. The proposed Yucca Mountain repository is limited to 70,000 metric tons of UNF and defense-related wastes. Although it is technically feasible to expand its capacity to 120,000 metric tons, projected increases in electricity generation from nuclear power could fill the extra space by 2030. Current legislation requires the secretary of energy to make a recommendation to Congress regarding the need for a second repository before January 1, 2010.
Until a suitable repository can be selected, every U.S. nuclear plant currently stores its UNF in pools. Regulations permit reracking of the UNF pool grid and fuel rod consolidation. Since the first dry-cask storage (DCS) installation to increase UNF storage capacity was licensed by the NRC in 1986, more than 30 commercial nuclear plants have relied on DCS in order to increase plant site UNF storage capacities. Some cask designs can be used for both storage and transportation (Figure 1).
1. Sealed up tight. A typical dry cask storage container in transit to a plant’s cask storage facility. Courtesy: NRC
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