Episode Summary:
Traditional nuclear reactor technology is robust and efficient—and unfortunately, expensive. Major cost overruns, sometimes in the billions of dollars, and significant construction delays are typical in large nuclear facility construction. Projects carry risk for investors, and more than once have threatened the ordering power generation utilities with bankruptcy. Nuclear power generation has moved from a technology that carries safety risks to one that carries financial risks. The Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Energy Impact Center has developed a nuclear reactor design that promises to de-risk nuclear power production in a novel way: with an open-source design.
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Transcript of this week's show:
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With the recent opening of the first European nuclear plant in 15 years in Finland, Europeans are starting to talk about nuclear energy again. Between lagging global performance on achieving Paris Accord CO2 targets, and the new imperative for Europe to wean itself from Russian fossil fuels, the timing has never been better for the nuclear industry.
Pushing back, of course, are environmentalists—but also energy economists, who point out that the nuclear industry is fraught with project delays and cost overruns; sometimes substantial ones. Overruns of billions of dollars are common, and the nuclear industry is addressing this with new reactor designs that promise simplified construction with faster build times and lower risk.
In the computer world, individuals who prefer to use a non-corporate operating system can opt for one of the many Linux variants. The open-source code is attractive to many users, and it has been used as the OS for many robust commercial and industrial applications. Open-source works in the software business, but could it be applied to nuclear reactors?
A Washington, D.C.-based institute called the Energy Impact Center thinks so, and in 2020 created the OPEN100 project, the world’s first open-source blueprint for the design, construction and financing of nuclear power plants. OPEN100 offers a web interface to visualize plant and assembly design, cost studies and even construction plans, all aimed at providing engineering firms and utilities with a low-cost way to start powerplant projects—and just as importantly, raise the capital to build them.
The primary aim of this start-up is to expand nuclear power, not pioneer new technologies, and the team’s design is a pressurized light water reactor, burning uranium oxide pellets at under 5 percent enrichment. Nominal power is 300 MW thermal, delivering 100 MW electrical at an anticipated 90+ percent capacity factor. Cooling is by conventional condensers, and the team anticipates that space and process heat generation would be viable alternatives to pure electricity generation.
It is all proven technology; the breakthrough will be in speed and cost. OPEN100 anticipates a construction time of between 18 and 24 months, with an effective cost of electricity at $36 per megawatt hour, assuming a 90 percent capacity factor, a 40-year reactor life and a capital cost of 6 percent. These basic assumptions appear realistic, and if national nuclear regulatory authorities approve the final design, basic construction looks feasible for local and regional engineering firms.
The project is U.S.-based and is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy, who have exempted OPEN100 documents from export controls. The software is free and can be redistributed and modified under the terms of the Free Software Foundation’s public licensing rules.
Does this mean that every poor nation on the planet will be building nuclear reactors? Clearly not, as there are a few hurdles to overcome first. Building a reactor is one thing; securing a reliable and secure supply of fuel, even at low enrichment, is another. Waste handling is another issue.
Yet another issue is the need to train capable engineers and technicians in jurisdictions that have never seen nuclear power before. But the biggest issue of all may be the lack of an existing nuclear regulatory infrastructure in the nations that need this kind of technology the most.
So, will it work? From an engineering perspective, the technology appears conservative, and well proven. The open-source nature of the project means that as more and more units are built, the design can be iterated and improved continuously, making each new project more cost-effective than the last. The economics look right too.
Can it be as successful as Linux is in the software world? Technically, yes. But the one caveat in all open-source projects like this is that they are in fact open-source. Open-source projects tend to be in a constant state of flux, with no one standardized version forming a single source of truth. If every OPEN100 reactor is different from the rest, even if each is better, the complexity of certifying and operating hundreds of unique reactors could create back-end costs due to the inability to standardize components and systems.
But the concept is exciting: low cost, reliable nuclear power with realistic project costs and construction timelines. Backed up by proper financing, possibly from global development organizations, even third-world countries might be able to jump directly from fossil fuels to nuclear power generation.