Competitiveness Of Nuclear Power Research Articles

The concept of inherent safety of generation V nuclear power plants

Elimination of significant risks in nuclear power production is at the present stage a necessity and goal-setting that determines its development in the near future. Of particular importance is the problem of maximum credibility and convincingly substantiated stability of nuclear power plants against severe accidents. The lack of clear logic, transparency and guarantees in the reliability of the announced nuclear safety significantly hinders its development, unnecessarily overcomplicating expensive technical solutions, thereby weakening the competitiveness of nuclear power. The originally proposed Concept of Inherent Safety set the task of solving the above problems; however, its specific content has not been explicitly presented so far, which allows many competitors to use its terminology to promote projects that are not directly related to the ‘spirit and letter’ of Inherent Safety. This paper is intended to fill this gap. The authors also discuss the conditions for the generation and development of new self-protection means for innovative nuclear reactors as well as the phenomenological and technical aspects for their implementation based on the deterministic formalism.

The Nuclear Power Dilemma—Between Perception and Reality

Motivated by the environmental challenges and the increase in energy demand, this review assesses the suitability of nuclear power production as an alternative option to using fossil fuels. First, we assess the competitiveness of nuclear power compared to other power sources considering its economic efficiency, environmental impact and implications for health, and conclude that this is a viable option to serve in addition to and as a backup to renewable sources. Second, we review previous findings in various fields on advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power technology and conclude that there is a gap between reality and perception. Third, we discuss challenges related to nuclear weapons proliferation and misperceived public opinion on nuclear power. We conclude that the gap between perception and reality stems from a lack of consolidated interdisciplinary view, media communications focusing mainly on unilateral assessments.

Economically Feasible Mobile Nuclear Power Plant for Merchant Ships and Remote Clients

Recent studies point to a reduction of atmospheric pollution using nuclear energy for merchant ships. This work examines the development of an economically competitive nuclear power solution for merchant ship propulsion. The solution also addresses the requirements of a wider market, like islands, offshore oil platforms, and remote cities. System engineering and analysis at various product breakdown levels also propose architectural options to improve competitiveness of nuclear power in mobile nuclear power plants (MNPPs). Analyses include market research on clients and technical considerations on nuclear energy costs. The results show that an enterprise that delivers electric power to remote clients and dedicates to management of all nuclear aspects seems to be the best organizational and technical choice. Besides, ships should be of modular type and the MNPPs should be easily detachable at sea. Only container ships and remote islands demand enough power to justify the use of nuclear power. Nuclear power has high probability to be economically competitive for large container ships, however, only if public policies impose levels of risks akin to other industries.

MARKET DRIVEN POWER PLANT INVESTMENT PERSPECTIVES IN EUROPE: CLIMATE POLICY AND TECHNOLOGY SCENARIOS UNTIL 2050 IN THE MODEL EMELIE-ESY

In the framework of the Energy Modeling Forum 28, we investigate how climate policy regimes affect market developments under different technology availabilities on the European power markets. We use the partial equilibrium model EMELIE-ESY with focus on electricity markets in order to determine how private investors optimize their generation capacity investment and operation over the horizon 2010 to 2050. For the year 2050, the model projects a minor increase of power consumption of 10% under current climate policy, and a balanced pathway for consumption under ambitious climate policy compared to 2010 levels. These results contrast with findings of POLES and PRIMES models that predict strong consumption increases of 44% to 48% by 2050 and claim competitiveness of nuclear power and CCS options. Under ambitious climate policy, our findings correspond with major increases of wholesale electricity market prices and comparatively less pronounced emission price increases, which trigger no investments into Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and a strongly diminishing share of nuclear energy.

Regulatory policies and the future of nuclear power

This paper reviews some of the national policies and regulatory decisions that have the potential to affect the production of electricity from nuclear power. It is shown that many policies and regulatory initiatives are introduced to meet objectives other than determining the mix of electricity supply resources, such as reducing the cost of electricity or protecting public health and safety. Nevertheless, such policies and requirements can have a substantial effect on the competitiveness of present nuclear power plants, as well as on prospects for future nuclear power plants. Because electricity from nuclear power can substitute for electricity from fossil fuels, policies and regulations which affect the competitiveness of nuclear power can have an effect of the production of carbon emissions, and therefore can compete with, or complement, national environmental objectives.

Development of regional capacity expansion plan in Russia (application of the WASP model)

The Wien Automatic System Planning Package (WASP) is used for the development of an optimal capacity expansion plan in Russia. The object of the WASP study is the Central power pool, which is the largest power pool in Russia and has an essential share of nuclear power in electricity generation. The object of the study is to assess the long–term competitiveness of nuclear power in the region. A regional optimal capacity expansion plan developed with WASP shows that nuclear power can retain its role as one of the major electricity generation sources in the region. The most important factor with a positive effect upon the competitiveness of nuclear power plants is the projected escalation of the prices of fossil fuels.

Nuclear power and coal-fired CHP

The competitiveness of nuclear power in a power system with a substantial amount of coal-fired combined heat and power (CHP) is discussed using the expectedstructure of the Danish power system at the beginning of the next century as an example. The system efficiencies for CHP production are analysed, the structure of two simulation models is described, and the net savings of each marginal nuclear unit are calculated. The results are presented as probability distributions of the net savings taking into account the uncertainties of selected parameters. The method may be used for other very capital intensive power producing technologies.

The future growth of nuclear power: Part 2. Choices and obstacles

In the September issue Mr Surrey dealt with the questions concerning demand and supply of nuclear power in the 1980s. In this second and final part of his article he discusses the choices and obstacles in the future development of this technology, examining technical options, public safety and economics. The basic sources of uncertainty are safety and future technical progress, and it is these aspects which will jointly determine the long-term acceptability and competitiveness of nuclear power.