THE NEW NUKES...are we close to breaking ground?

It was great to see the following headline recently, “The New Nukes,” in the Wall Street Journal. The article began with this statement…

“For the first time in decades, popular opinion is on the (nuclear) industry's side. A majority of Americans think nuclear power, which emits virtually no carbon dioxide, is a safe and effective way to battle climate change, according to recent polls. At the same time, legislators are showing renewed interest in nuclear as they hunt for ways to slash greenhouse-gas emissions.”

Having a balanced article of this quality in a first class newspaper shows that public opinion is changing and we here in the U.S. are close to actually having new nuclear plants.

Just yesterday, I had the pleasure of hearing a presentation by Steve Ewald of Georgia Power on one of the four projects selected for DOE loan guarantees -- Vogtle 3 and 4, located in Augusta, Georgia. This project will be an AP1000 pressurized water reactor from Westinghouse with the Shaw Group as the main contractor.

From Ewald’s discussions, it was clear that there are two main reasons Georgia Power selected nuclear:

1) Baseload generation requirements have increased – clean coal is not available in the short term, so the lowest cost option is nuclear.

2) Reduction of carbon emissions – without clean coal, nuclear is the best choice for baseload generation.

Georgia Power is taking advantage of renewable power, for example switching the Mitchell Plant from coal to wood resulting in a 95MW plant. With the limited potential for wind and solar in Georgia, nuclear is the best option for meeting the increase in baseload demand up to 2025.

What we need now is action. The DOE should come out with its final selection of projects for loan guarantees. I recommend proceeding with two projects with competing technologies -- for example, one pressurized water reactor and one boiling water reactor.

Once a project actually breaks ground and an order is placed for an NSSS system, we can really start talking about THE NEW NUKES.

Here’s a link to the article -- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350342705855178.html#articleTabs%3Dcomments

Not in my backyard. Hosting renewable energy no picnic for some...

A recent article in the September 4 Wall Street Journal, “Renewable Energy, Meet The New Nimbys,” provides further confirmation that there is no “silver bullet” for our energy problems. When it comes to finding space for renewable projects, we are hearing a lot of people saying, “not in my backyard," also known as “nimbys.”

Complaints from environmentalists include concerns that wind turbines will cause damage to local flora and fauna -- killing sage grouse in Wyoming or the endangered kit fox and antelope-like pronghorn in California.

And, several new wind and solar projects will require transmission lines over previously clear-skied neighborhoods and green spaces.

While we iron out these issues, there is a “silver buckshot” solution. We should choose to hold a variety of energy solutions in our power portfolio -- ranging from renewable to coal, to nuclear. Acceptable solutions will be driven by technology, regional fuel/resource availability and yes, environmental concerns -- even for wind and solar.

In addition to keeping these traditional sources alive, in some states it may make more sense to invest in nuclear and clean coal where transmission line infrastructure already exists. Food for thought, here is the WSJ article. Renewable Energy, Meet the New Nimbys http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125201834987684787.html

Knowledge Management Reduces Risk -- Applying knowledge management software to reduce the risk of new nuclear plant construction and operation

Some of the most frequently heard objections to the development of new nuclear plants are the schedule and cost uncertainties. “We do not know how long it will take or how much it will cost,” it's said.

Recent and past history does not provide much comfort either. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the average time required to bring a plant on line from order date increased from three to 13 years. More recently the Olkiluoto plant, currently under construction in Finland, has a project completion date -- originally planned for 2009 -- delayed to at least 2012.



New developments, such as modularized design processes and more efficient construction and operating license process by the NRC will certainly help to resolve past problems.

But recently software companies catering to the nuclear plant industry are filling a need, and it’s an exciting new area to talk about. Using knowledge management systems, these companies are capturing lessons learned from past construction and plant operation and developing tools which allow plant owners, architect engineers and regulatory organizations to develop a comprehensive knowledge based management system for design, licensing, construction and operation.

Combined data management and expert system tools allow the transparent flow down of design/licensing requirements to the construction and operation phase of power plant build. Of course this approach can also be applied to existing plant licensing for uprates and modifications.



The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) have come out with guidelines and standards for developing knowledge management systems. Here is a report from the IAEA -- http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1377_web.pdf

While working with new construction in Europe -- as a subcontractor to the main EPC --I saw my share of changing requirements which required re-design of piping supporting structures during construction. I feel that the industry can reduce the risk in cost and schedule for new nuclear plant build and existing plant modifications by taking advantage of the new suite of tools being created by software companies for developing nuclear plant knowledge base systems.



For more details, check out recent announcements from two software providers, Enterprise Informatics and Wiznucleus -- http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_power_news/archive/2009/08/03/enterprise-informatics-and-excel-services-team-on-nuclear-knowledge-management-1804.aspx 
http://nuclearstreet.com/blogs/nuclear_power_news/archive/2009/07/17/wiznucleus-announces-new-it-platform-for-nuclear-plants-785.aspx