Nuclear power
Most nuclear power plants use
The
Proponents contend that nuclear power is a safe, sustainable energy source that reduces
History
Origins
The discovery of nuclear fission occurred in 1938 following over four decades of work on the science of
In the United States, these research efforts led to the creation of the first man-made nuclear reactor, the
Despite the military nature of the first nuclear devices, the 1940s and 1950s were characterized by strong optimism for the potential of nuclear power to provide cheap and endless energy.[6] Electricity was generated for the first time by a nuclear reactor on December 20, 1951, at the
In 1953, American PresidentFirst power generation
The first organization to develop practical nuclear power was the U.S. Navy, with the S1W reactor for the purpose of propelling submarines and aircraft carriers. The first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, was put to sea in January 1954.[9][10] The S1W reactor was a pressurized water reactor. This design was chosen because it was simpler, more compact, and easier to operate compared to alternative designs, thus more suitable to be used in submarines. This decision would result in the PWR being the reactor of choice also for power generation, thus having a lasting impact on the civilian electricity market in the years to come.[11]
On June 27, 1954, the
Expansion and first opposition
The total global installed nuclear capacity initially rose relatively quickly, rising from less than 1
The 1973 oil crisis had a significant effect on countries, such as France and Japan, which had relied more heavily on oil for electric generation to invest in nuclear power.[15] France would construct 25 nuclear power plants over the next 15 years,[16][17] and as of 2019, 71% of French electricity was generated by nuclear power, the highest percentage by any nation in the world.[18]
Some local opposition to nuclear power emerged in the United States in the early 1960s. In the early 1970s, there were large protests about a proposed nuclear power plant in Wyhl, Germany. The project was cancelled in 1975. The anti-nuclear success at Wyhl inspired opposition to nuclear power in other parts of Europe and North America.[22][23]
By the mid-1970s
Chernobyl and renaissance
During the 1980s one new nuclear reactor started up every 17 days on average.[32] By the end of the decade, global installed nuclear capacity reached 300 GW. Since the late 1980s, new capacity additions slowed down significantly, with the installed nuclear capacity reaching 366 GW in 2005.
The 1986
In the early 2000s, nuclear energy was expecting a
-
Netelectrical generationby source and growth from 1980. In terms of energy generated between 1980 and 2010, the contribution from fission grew the fastest.
-
Electricity production in France, showing the shift to nuclear power.thermofossilhydroelectricnuclearOther renewables
-
The rate of new reactor constructions essentially halted in the late 1980s. Increased capacity factor in existing reactors was primarily responsible for the continuing increase in electrical energy produced during this period.
-
Electricity generation trends in the top producing countries (Our World in Data)
Fukushima
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Prospects of a nuclear renaissance were delayed by another nuclear accident.[37][39] The 2011
The accident prompted a re-examination of
In 2022, the Japanese government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has declared that 10 more nuclear power plants be reopened since the 2011 disaster.[46] Kishida is also pushing for research and construction of new safer nuclear plants to safeguard Japanese consumers from the fluctuating fossil fuel market and reduce Japan's greenhouse gas emissions.[47] Kishida intends to have Japan become a significant exporter of nuclear energy and technology to developing countries around the world.[47]
Current prospects
By 2015, the IAEA's outlook for nuclear energy had become more promising, recognizing the importance of low-carbon generation for mitigating climate change.[48] As of 2015[update], the global trend was for new nuclear power stations coming online to be balanced by the number of old plants being retired.[49] In 2016, the
In October 2021, the Japanese cabinet approved the new Plan for Electricity Generation to 2030 prepared by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) and an advisory committee, following public consultation. The nuclear target for 2030 requires the restart of another ten reactors. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in July 2022 announced that the country should consider building advanced reactors and extending operating licences beyond 60 years.[56]
As of 2022, with world oil and gas prices on the rise, while Germany is restarting its coal plants to deal with loss of Russian gas that it needs to supplement its
Power plants
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Nuclear power plants are thermal power stations that generate electricity by harnessing the thermal energy released from nuclear fission. A fission nuclear power plant is generally composed of: a nuclear reactor, in which the nuclear reactions generating heat take place; a cooling system, which removes the heat from inside the reactor; a steam turbine, which transforms the heat into mechanical energy; an electric generator, which transforms the mechanical energy into electrical energy.[61]
When a neutron hits the nucleus of a uranium-235 or plutonium atom, it can split the nucleus into two smaller nuclei, which is a nuclear fission reaction. The reaction releases energy and neutrons. The released neutrons can hit other uranium or plutonium nuclei, causing new fission reactions, which release more energy and more neutrons. This is called a chain reaction. In most commercial reactors, the reaction rate is contained by control rods that absorb excess neutrons. The controllability of nuclear reactors depends on the fact that a small fraction of neutrons resulting from fission are delayed. The time delay between the fission and the release of the neutrons slows down changes in reaction rates and gives time for moving the control rods to adjust the reaction rate.[61][62]
Fuel cycle
The life cycle of nuclear fuel starts with uranium mining. The uranium ore is then converted into a compact ore concentrate form, known as yellowcake (U3O8), to facilitate transport.[63] Fission reactors generally need uranium-235, a fissile isotope of uranium. The concentration of uranium-235 in natural uranium is very low (about 0.7%). Some reactors can use this natural uranium as fuel, depending on their neutron economy. These reactors generally have graphite or heavy water moderators. For light water reactors, the most common type of reactor, this concentration is too low, and it must be increased by a process called
After some time in the reactor, the fuel will have reduced fissile material and increased fission products, until its use becomes impractical.[64] At this point, the spent fuel will be moved to a spent fuel pool which provides cooling for the thermal heat and shielding for ionizing radiation. After several months or years, the spent fuel is radioactively and thermally cool enough to be moved to dry storage casks or reprocessed.[64]
Uranium resources
Uranium is a fairly common element in the Earth's crust: it is approximately as common as tin or germanium, and is about 40 times more common than silver.[65] Uranium is present in trace concentrations in most rocks, dirt, and ocean water, but is generally economically extracted only where it is present in high concentrations. Uranium mining can be underground,
Light water reactors make relatively inefficient use of nuclear fuel, mostly using only the very rare uranium-235 isotope.
Unconventional uranium resources also exist. Uranium is naturally present in seawater at a concentration of about 3 micrograms per liter,[92][93][94] with 4.4 billion tons of uranium considered present in seawater at any time.[95] In 2014 it was suggested that it would be economically competitive to produce nuclear fuel from seawater if the process was implemented at large scale.[96] Like fossil fuels, over geological timescales, uranium extracted on an industrial scale from seawater would be replenished by both river erosion of rocks and the natural process of uranium dissolved from the surface area of the ocean floor, both of which maintain the solubility equilibria of seawater concentration at a stable level.[95] Some commentators have argued that this strengthens the case for nuclear power to be considered a renewable energy.[97]
Waste
The normal operation of nuclear power plants and facilities produce radioactive waste, or nuclear waste. This type of waste is also produced during plant decommissioning. There are two broad categories of nuclear waste: low-level waste and high-level waste.[99] The first has low radioactivity and includes contaminated items such as clothing, which poses limited threat. High-level waste is mainly the spent fuel from nuclear reactors, which is very radioactive and must be cooled and then safely disposed of or reprocessed.[99]
High-level waste
The most important waste stream from nuclear power reactors is
High-level waste (HLW) must be stored isolated from the
Commonly suggested methods to isolate LLFP waste from the biosphere include separation and transmutation,[98] synroc treatments, or deep geological storage.[106][107][108][109]
The thorium fuel cycle results in similar fission products, though creates a much smaller proportion of transuranic elements from neutron capture events within a reactor. Spent thorium fuel, although more difficult to handle than spent uranium fuel, may present somewhat lower proliferation risks.[115]
Low-level waste
The nuclear industry also produces a large volume of low-level waste, with low radioactivity, in the form of contaminated items like clothing, hand tools, water purifier resins, and (upon decommissioning) the materials of which the reactor itself is built. Low-level waste can be stored on-site until radiation levels are low enough to be disposed of as ordinary waste, or it can be sent to a low-level waste disposal site.[116]
Waste relative to other types
In countries with nuclear power, radioactive wastes account for less than 1% of total industrial toxic wastes, much of which remains hazardous for long periods.[70] Overall, nuclear power produces far less waste material by volume than fossil-fuel based power plants.[117] Coal-burning plants, in particular, produce large amounts of toxic and mildly radioactive ash resulting from the concentration of naturally occurring radioactive materials in coal.[118] A 2008 report from
Nuclear waste volume is small compared to the energy produced. For example, at
Waste disposal
Following interim storage in a spent fuel pool, the bundles of used fuel rod assemblies of a typical nuclear power station are often stored on site in dry cask storage vessels.[125] Presently, waste is mainly stored at individual reactor sites and there are over 430 locations around the world where radioactive material continues to accumulate.
Disposal of nuclear waste is often considered the most politically divisive aspect in the lifecycle of a nuclear power facility.[126] With the lack of movement of nuclear waste in the 2 billion year old natural nuclear fission reactors in Oklo, Gabon being cited as "a source of essential information today."[127][128] Experts suggest that centralized underground repositories which are well-managed, guarded, and monitored, would be a vast improvement.[126] There is an "international consensus on the advisability of storing nuclear waste in deep geological repositories".[129] With the advent of new technologies, other methods including horizontal drillhole disposal into geologically inactive areas have been proposed.[130][131]
There are no commercial scale purpose built underground high-level waste repositories in operation.[129][132][133] However, in Finland the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository of the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant is under construction as of 2015.[134]
Reprocessing
Most
The main constituent of spent fuel from LWRs is slightly
Reprocessing has the potential to recover up to 95% of the uranium and plutonium fuel in spent nuclear fuel, as well as reduce long-term radioactivity within the remaining waste. However, reprocessing has been politically controversial because of the potential for nuclear proliferation and varied perceptions of increasing the vulnerability to nuclear terrorism.[136][142] Reprocessing also leads to higher fuel cost compared to the once-through fuel cycle.[136][142] While reprocessing reduces the volume of high-level waste, it does not reduce the
Reprocessing of civilian fuel from power reactors is currently done in France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, and India. In the United States, spent nuclear fuel is currently not reprocessed.[138] The La Hague reprocessing facility in France has operated commercially since 1976 and is responsible for half the world's reprocessing as of 2010.[143] It produces MOX fuel from spent fuel derived from several countries. More than 32,000 tonnes of spent fuel had been reprocessed as of 2015, with the majority from France, 17% from Germany, and 9% from Japan.[144]
Breeding
Breeding is the process of converting non-fissile material into fissile material that can be used as nuclear fuel. The non-fissile material that can be used for this process is called fertile material, and constitute the vast majority of current nuclear waste. This breeding process occurs naturally in breeder reactors. As opposed to light water thermal-neutron reactors, which use uranium-235 (0.7% of all natural uranium), fast-neutron breeder reactors use uranium-238 (99.3% of all natural uranium) or thorium. A number of fuel cycles and breeder reactor combinations are considered to be sustainable or renewable sources of energy.[145][146] In 2006 it was estimated that with seawater extraction, there was likely five billion years' worth of uranium resources for use in breeder reactors.[147]
Breeder technology has been used in several reactors, but as of 2006, the high cost of reprocessing fuel safely requires uranium prices of more than US$200/kg before becoming justified economically.[148] Breeder reactors are however being developed for their potential to burn up all of the actinides (the most active and dangerous components) in the present inventory of nuclear waste, while also producing power and creating additional quantities of fuel for more reactors via the breeding process.[149][150] As of 2017, there are two breeders producing commercial power, BN-600 reactor and the BN-800 reactor, both in Russia.[151] The Phénix breeder reactor in France was powered down in 2009 after 36 years of operation.[151] Both China and India are building breeder reactors. The Indian 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is in the commissioning phase,[152] with plans to build more.[153]
Another alternative to fast-neutron breeders are thermal-neutron breeder reactors that use uranium-233 bred from thorium as fission fuel in the thorium fuel cycle.[154] Thorium is about 3.5 times more common than uranium in the Earth's crust, and has different geographic characteristics.[154] India's three-stage nuclear power programme features the use of a thorium fuel cycle in the third stage, as it has abundant thorium reserves but little uranium.[154]
Decommissioning
Nuclear decommissioning is the process of dismantling a
Production
Civilian nuclear power supplied 2,586
Since electricity accounts for about 25% ofAs of March 2022,[update] there are
Regional differences in the use of nuclear power are large. The United States produces the most nuclear energy in the world, with nuclear power providing 20% of the electricity it consumes, while France produces the highest percentage of its electrical energy from nuclear reactors—71% in 2019.[18] In the European Union, nuclear power provides 26% of the electricity as of 2018.[168] Nuclear power is the single largest low-carbon electricity source in the United States,[169] and accounts for two-thirds of the European Union's low-carbon electricity.[170] Nuclear energy policy differs among European Union countries, and some, such as Austria, Estonia, Ireland and Italy, have no active nuclear power stations.
In addition, there were approximately 140 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion in operation, powered by about 180 reactors.[171][172] These include military and some civilian ships, such as nuclear-powered icebreakers.[173]
International research is continuing into additional uses of process heat such as hydrogen production (in support of a hydrogen economy), for desalinating sea water, and for use in district heating systems.[174]
Economics
The economics of new nuclear power plants is a controversial subject and multi-billion-dollar investments depend on the choice of energy sources. Nuclear power plants typically have high capital costs for building the plant. For this reason, comparison with other power generation methods is strongly dependent on assumptions about construction timescales and capital financing for nuclear plants. Fuel costs account for about 30 percent of the operating costs, while prices are subject to the market.[175]
The high cost of construction is one of the biggest challenges for nuclear power plants. A new 1,100 MW plant is estimated to cost between $6 billion to $9 billion.[176] Nuclear power cost trends show large disparity by nation, design, build rate and the establishment of familiarity in expertise. The only two nations for which data is available that saw cost decreases in the 2000s were India and South Korea.[177]
Analysis of the economics of nuclear power must also take into account who bears the risks of future uncertainties. As of 2010, all operating nuclear power plants have been developed by state-owned or regulated electric utility monopolies.[178] Many countries have since liberalized the electricity market where these risks, and the risk of cheaper competitors emerging before capital costs are recovered, are borne by plant suppliers and operators rather than consumers, which leads to a significantly different evaluation of the economics of new nuclear power plants.[179]
The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from a new nuclear power plant is estimated to be 69 USD/MWh, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. This represents the median cost estimate for an nth-of-a-kind nuclear power plant to be completed in 2025, at a discount rate of 7%. Nuclear power was found to be the least-cost option among dispatchable technologies.[180] Variable renewables can generate cheaper electricity: the median cost of onshore wind power was estimated to be 50 USD/MWh, and utility-scale solar power 56 USD/MWh.[180] At the assumed CO2 emission cost of 30 USD/ton, power from coal (88 USD/MWh) and gas (71 USD/MWh) is more expensive than low-carbon technologies. Electricity from long-term operation of nuclear power plants by lifetime extension was found the be the least-cost option, at 32 USD/MWh.[180] Measures to
New
Certain designs had considerable early positive economics, such as the
Nuclear power plants, though capable of some grid-
Costs not considered in LCOE calculations include funds for research and development, and disasters (the Fukushima disaster is estimated to cost taxpayers ≈$187 billion[189]). Governments were found to in some cases force "consumers to pay upfront for potential cost overruns"[84] or subsidize uneconomic nuclear energy[190] or be required to do so.[55] Nuclear operators are liable to pay for the waste management in the EU.[191] In the U.S. the Congress reportedly decided 40 years ago that the nation, and not private companies, would be responsible for storing radioactive waste with taxpayers paying for the costs.[192] The World Nuclear Waste Report 2019 found that "even in countries in which the polluter-pays-principle is a legal requirement, it is applied incompletely" and notes the case of the German Asse II deep geological disposal facility, where the retrieval of large amounts of waste has to be paid for by taxpayers.[193] Similarly, other forms of energy, including fossil fuels and renewables, have a portion of their costs covered by governments.[194]
Use in space
The most common use of nuclear power in space is the use of radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which use radioactive decay to generate power. These power generators are relatively small scale (few kW), and they are mostly used to power
Both
Safety
Nuclear power plants have three unique characteristics that affect their safety, as compared to other power plants. Firstly, intensely
All modern reactors are designed so that an uncontrolled increase of the reactor power is prevented by natural feedback mechanisms, a concept known as negative
With a death rate of 0.03 per
Serious impacts of nuclear accidents are often not directly attributable to radiation exposure, but rather social and psychological effects. Evacuation and long-term displacement of affected populations created problems for many people, especially the elderly and hospital patients.[206] Forced evacuation from a nuclear accident may lead to social isolation, anxiety, depression, psychosomatic medical problems, reckless behavior, and suicide. A comprehensive 2005 study on the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster concluded that the mental health impact is the largest public health problem caused by the accident.[207] Frank N. von Hippel, an American scientist, commented that a disproportionate fear of ionizing radiation (radiophobia) could have long-term psychological effects on the population of contaminated areas following the Fukushima disaster.[208]
Accidents
Some serious
The first major nuclear accidents were the
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident was caused by the
The impact of nuclear accidents is controversial. According to
Nuclear power works under an insurance framework that limits or structures accident liabilities in accordance with national and international conventions.[223] It is often argued that this potential shortfall in liability represents an external cost not included in the cost of nuclear electricity. This cost is small, amounting to about 0.1% of the levelized cost of electricity, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office in the United States.[224] These beyond-regular insurance costs for worst-case scenarios are not unique to nuclear power.
Attacks and sabotage
Terrorists could target
In the United States, the NRC carries out "Force on Force" (FOF) exercises at all nuclear power plant sites at least once every three years.[226] In the United States, plants are surrounded by a double row of tall fences which are electronically monitored. The plant grounds are patrolled by a sizeable force of armed guards.[227]
Insider sabotage is also a threat because insiders can observe and work around security measures. Successful insider crimes depended on the perpetrators' observation and knowledge of security vulnerabilities.[228] A fire caused 5–10 million dollars worth of damage to New York's Indian Point Energy Center in 1971.[229] The arsonist was a plant maintenance worker.[230]
Proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-related nuclear technology to states that do not already possess nuclear weapons. Many technologies and materials associated with the creation of a nuclear power program have a dual-use capability, in that they can also be used to make nuclear weapons. For this reason, nuclear power presents proliferation risks.
Nuclear power program can become a route leading to a nuclear weapon. An example of this is the concern over Iran's nuclear program.[233] The re-purposing of civilian nuclear industries for military purposes would be a breach of the
A fundamental goal for global security is to minimize the nuclear proliferation risks associated with the expansion of nuclear power.[233] The
A 2009 United Nations report said that:
the revival of interest in nuclear power could result in the worldwide dissemination of uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing technologies, which present obvious risks of proliferation as these technologies can produce fissile materials that are directly usable in nuclear weapons.[236]
On the other hand, power reactors can also reduce nuclear weapon arsenals when military-grade nuclear materials are reprocessed to be used as fuel in nuclear power plants. The
Environmental impact
Being a low-carbon energy source with relatively little land-use requirements, nuclear energy can have a positive environmental impact. It also requires a constant supply of significant amounts of water and affects the environment through mining and milling.[241][242][243][244] Its largest potential negative impacts on the environment may arise from its transgenerational risks for nuclear weapons proliferation that may increase risks of their use in the future, risks for problems associated with the management of the radioactive waste such as groundwater contamination, risks for accidents and for risks for various forms of attacks on waste storage sites or reprocessing- and power-plants.[72][245][246][247][248][244][249][250] However, these remain mostly only risks as historically there have only been few disasters at nuclear power plants with known relatively substantial environmental impacts.
Carbon emissions
Part of a series on |
Climate change mitigation |
---|
|
Nuclear power is one of the leading
Radiation
The average dose from natural
Chernobyl resulted in the most affected surrounding populations and male recovery personnel receiving an average initial 50 to 100 mSv over a few hours to weeks, while the remaining global legacy of the worst nuclear power plant accident in average exposure is 0.002 mSv/a and is continuously dropping at the decaying rate, from the initial high of 0.04 mSv per person averaged over the entire populace of the Northern Hemisphere in the year of the accident in 1986.[256]
Debate
The nuclear power debate concerns the controversy which has surrounded the deployment and use of nuclear fission reactors to generate electricity from nuclear fuel for civilian purposes.[25][259][26]
Proponents of nuclear energy regard it as a
Proponents also bring to attention the opportunity cost of utilizing other forms of electricity. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that coal kills 30,000 people a year,[266] as a result of its environmental impact, while 60 people died in the Chernobyl disaster.[267] A real world example of impact provided by proponents is the 650,000 ton increase in carbon emissions in the two months following the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.[268]
Opponents believe that nuclear power poses many threats to people's health and environment
Critics find that one of the largest drawbacks to building new nuclear fission power plants are the large construction and operating costs when compared to alternatives of sustainable energy sources.[54][277][83][243][278] Further costs include costs for ongoing research and development, expensive reprocessing in cases where such is practiced[72][73][74][76] and decommissioning.[279][280][281] Proponents note that focussing on the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), however, ignores the value premium associated with 24/7 dispatchable electricity and the cost of storage and backup systems necessary to integrate variable energy sources into a reliable electrical grid.[282] "Nuclear thus remains the dispatchable low-carbon technology with the lowest expected costs in 2025. Only large hydro reservoirs can provide a similar contribution at comparable costs but remain highly dependent on the natural endowments of individual countries."[283]
Overall, many opponents find that nuclear energy cannot meaningfully contribute to climate change mitigation. In general, they find it to be, too dangerous, too expensive, to take too long for deployment, to be an obstacle to achieving a transition towards sustainability and carbon-neutrality,[83][284][285][286] effectively being a distracting[287][288] competition for resources (i.e. human, financial, time, infrastructure and expertise) for the deployment and development of alternative, sustainable, energy system technologies[84][288][83][289] (such as for wind, ocean and solar[83] – including e.g. floating solar – as well as ways to manage their intermittency other than nuclear baseload[290] generation such as dispatchable generation, renewables-diversification,[291][292] super grids, flexible energy demand and supply regulating smart grids and energy storage[293][294][295][296][297] technologies).[298][299][300][301][302][303][304][305][250]
Nevertheless, there is ongoing research and debate over costs of new nuclear, especially in regions where i.a. seasonal energy storage is difficult to provide and which aim to
Comparison with renewable energy
Slowing
Several studies suggest that it might be theoretically possible to cover a majority of world energy generation with new renewable sources. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that if governments were supportive, renewable energy supply could account for close to 80% of the world's energy use by 2050.[315] While in developed nations the economically feasible geography for new hydropower is lacking, with every geographically suitable area largely already exploited,[316] some proponents of wind and solar energy claim these resources alone could eliminate the need for nuclear power.[312][317]
Nuclear power is comparable to, and in some cases lower, than many renewable energy sources in terms of lives lost in the past per unit of electricity delivered.[202][200][318] Depending on recycling of renewable energy technologies, nuclear reactors may produce a much smaller volume of waste, although much more toxic, expensive to manage and longer-lived.[319][246] A nuclear plant also needs to be disassembled and removed and much of the disassembled nuclear plant needs to be stored as low-level nuclear waste for a few decades.[320] The disposal and management of the wide variety[321] of radioactive waste, of which there are over one quarter of a million tons as of 2018, can cause future damage and costs across the world for over or during hundreds of thousands of years[322][323][324] – possibly over a million years,[325][326][327][328] due to issues such as leakage,[329] malign retrieval, vulnerability to attacks (including of reprocessing[75][72] and power plants), groundwater contamination, radiation and leakage to above ground, brine leakage or bacterial corrosion.[330][325][331][332] The European Commission Joint Research Centre found that as of 2021 the necessary technologies for geological disposal of nuclear waste are now available and can be deployed.[333] Corrosion experts noted in 2020 that putting the problem of storage off any longer "isn't good for anyone".[334] Separated plutonium and enriched uranium could be used for nuclear weapons, which – even with the current centralized control (e.g. state-level) and level of prevalence – are considered to be a difficult and substantial global risk for substantial future impacts on human health, lives, civilization and the environment.[72][245][246][247][248]
Speed of transition and investment needed
Analysis in 2015 by professor
Scientific data indicates that – assuming 2021 emissions levels – humanity only has a carbon budget equivalent to 11 years of emissions left for limiting warming to 1.5 °C[339][340] while the construction of new nuclear reactors took a median of 7.2–10.9 years in 2018–2020,[332] substantially longer than, alongside other measures, scaling up the deployment of wind and solar – especially for novel reactor types – as well as being more risky, often delayed and more dependent on state-support.[341][342][285][287][83][343][298] Researchers have cautioned that novel nuclear technologies – which have been in development since decades,[344][83][277] are less tested, have higher proliferation risks, have more new safety problems, are often far from commercialization and are more expensive[277][83][243][345] – are not available in time.[79][84][346][287][347][297][348] Critics of nuclear energy often only oppose nuclear fission energy but not nuclear fusion; however, fusion energy is unlikely to be commercially widespread before 2050.[349][350][351][352][353]
Land use
The median land area used by US nuclear power stations per 1 GW installed capacity is 1.3
Research
Advanced fission reactor designs
Current fission reactors in operation around the world are second or third generation systems, with most of the first-generation systems having been already retired. Research into advanced generation IV reactor types was officially started by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) based on eight technology goals, including to improve economics, safety, proliferation resistance, natural resource utilization and the ability to consume existing nuclear waste in the production of electricity. Most of these reactors differ significantly from current operating light water reactors, and are expected to be available for commercial construction after 2030.[357]
Hybrid fusion-fission
Hybrid nuclear power is a proposed means of generating power by the use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission processes. The concept dates to the 1950s and was briefly advocated by Hans Bethe during the 1970s, but largely remained unexplored until a revival of interest in 2009, due to delays in the realization of pure fusion. When a sustained nuclear fusion power plant is built, it has the potential to be capable of extracting all the fission energy that remains in spent fission fuel, reducing the volume of nuclear waste by orders of magnitude, and more importantly, eliminating all actinides present in the spent fuel, substances which cause security concerns.[358]
Fusion
Nuclear fusion reactions have the potential to be safer and generate less radioactive waste than fission.[359][360] These reactions appear potentially viable, though technically quite difficult and have yet to be created on a scale that could be used in a functional power plant. Fusion power has been under theoretical and experimental investigation since the 1950s. Nuclear fusion research is underway but fusion energy is not likely to be commercially widespread before 2050.[361][362][363]
Several experimental nuclear fusion reactors and facilities exist. The largest and most ambitious international nuclear fusion project currently in progress is
Fusion-powered electricity generation was initially believed to be readily achievable, as fission-electric power had been. However, the extreme requirements for continuous reactions and
To enhance and accelerate the development of fusion energy, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) granted $46 million to eight firms, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Tokamak Energy Inc, in 2023. This ambitious initiative aims to introduce pilot-scale fusion within a decade.[366]
See also
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Further reading
- AEC Atom Information Booklets, Both series, "Understanding the Atom" and "The World of the Atom". A total of 75 booklets published by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in the 1960s and 1970s, Authored by scientists and taken together, the booklets comprise the history of nuclear science and its applications at the time.
- Armstrong, Robert C., Catherine Wolfram, Robert Gross, Nathan S. Lewis, and M.V. Ramana et al. The Frontiers of Energy, Nature Energy, Vol 1, 11 January 2016.
- Brown, Kate (2013). Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters, Oxford University Press.
- Clarfield, Gerald H. and William M. Wiecek (1984). Nuclear America: Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940–1980, Harper & Row.
- In Mortal Hands: A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age, Black Inc.
- Cravens, Gwyneth (2007). Power to Save the World: the Truth about Nuclear Energy. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26656-9.
- Elliott, David (2007). Nuclear or Not? Does Nuclear Power Have a Place in a Sustainable Energy Future?, Palgrave.
- Ferguson, Charles D., (2007). Nuclear Energy: Balancing Benefits and Risks Council on Foreign Relations.
- Garwin, Richard L. and Charpak, Georges (2001) Megawatts and Megatons A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age?, Knopf.
- Herbst, Alan M. and George W. Hopley (2007). Nuclear Energy Now: Why the Time has come for the World's Most Misunderstood Energy Source, Wiley.
- Mahaffey, James (2015). Atomic accidents: a history of nuclear meltdowns and disasters: from the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima. Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-60598-680-7.
- Oreskes, Naomi, "Breaking the Techno-Promise: We do not have enough time for nuclear power to save us from the climate crisis", Scientific American, vol. 326, no. 2 (February 2022), p. 74.
- The World Nuclear Industry Status Report: World Nuclear Industry Status as of 1 January 2016.
- Walker, J. Samuel (1992). Containing the Atom: Nuclear Regulation in a Changing Environment, 1993–1971, Berkeley: University of California Press.
- ISBN 0-674-05233-1