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Green Nuclear

Renewable Energy Options
Technology to utilise the forces of nature for doing work to supply human needs is as old as the first sailing ship. But attention swung away from renewable sources as the industrial revolution progressed on the basis of the concentrated energy locked up in fossil fuels. This was compounded by the increasing use of reticulated electricity based on fossil fuels and the importance of portable high-density energy sources for transport - the era of oil.

As electricity demand escalated, with supply depending largely on fossil fuels plus some hydro power and then nuclear energy, concerns arose about carbon dioxide emissions contributing to possible global warming. Attention again turned to the huge sources of energy surging around us in nature - sun, wind, and seas in particular. There was never any doubt about the magnitude of these, the challenge was always in harnessing them.

Clean electricity from 'new renewables' - solar, wind, biomass and geothermal power - deserves strong support. But the collective capacity of these technologies to produce electricity in the decades ahead is limited. The International Energy Agency projects that, even with conitnued subsidy and research support, these new renewables can only provide around 6% of world electricity by 2030.

Environmentalists have played a valuable role in warning that catastrophic climate change is a real and imminent danger. It is crucially important that they be equally realistic about solutions. Even with maximum conservation - and a landscape covered by solar panels and windmills- we would still need large-scale source of around-the-clock electricity to meet much of our energy needs.

Nuclear power - like wind, hydro and solar energy - can generate electricity with no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions. The critical difference is that nuclear energy is the only proven option with the capacity to produce vastly expanded supplies of clean electricity on a global scale.

Far from being competitors, nuclear power and 'new renewables' are urgently needed as partners if the world's immense clean energy needs are to be met.

The projections point inexorably to the same conclusion: Our world cannot meet its expanding energy needs - cleanly - without a sharp expansion of nuclear energy.

The Demand for Clean Energy
There is a fundamental attractiveness about harnessing such forces in an age, which is very conscious of the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels, and sustainability is an ethical norm. So today the focus is on both adequacy of energy supply long-term and also the environmental implications of particular sources. In that regard the near certainty of costs being imposed on carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries at least has profoundly changed the economic outlook of clean energy sources.

A market-determined carbon price will create incentives for energy sources that are cleaner than current fossil fuel sources without distinguishing among different technologies. This puts the onus on the generating utility to employ technologies that efficiently supply power to the consumer at a competitive price.

Sun, wind, waves, rivers, tides and the heat from radioactive decay in the earth's mantle as well as biomass are all abundant and ongoing, hence the term "renewables". Only one, the power of falling water in rivers, has been significantly tapped for electricity for many years, though utilization of wind is increasing rapidly and it is now acknowledged as a mainstream energy source.

Solar energy's main human application has been in agriculture and forestry, via photosynthesis, and increasingly it is harnessed for heat. Electricity remains a niche application for solar. Biomass (eg sugar cane residue) is burned where it can be utilised. The others are little used as yet.

Turning to the use of abundant renewable energy sources other than large-scale hydro for electricity, there are challenges in actually harnessing them. Apart from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that produce electricity directly, the question is how to make them turn dynamos to generate the electricity. If it is heat which is harnessed, this is via a steam generating system.

If the fundamental opportunity of these renewables is their abundance and relatively widespread occurrence, the fundamental challenge, especially for electricity supply, is applying them to meet demand given their variable and diffuse nature. This means either that there must be reliable duplicate sources of electricity beyond the normal system reserve, or some means of electricity storage. Policies which favour renewables over other sources may also be required. Such policies, now in place in about 50 countries, include priority dispatch for electricity from renewable sources and special feed-in tariffs, quota obligations and energy tax exemptions.

Most electricity demand is for continuous, reliable supply that has traditionally been provided by base-load electricity generation. Some is for shorter-term (eg peak-load) requirements on a broadly predictable basis. Hence if renewable sources are linked to a grid, the question of back-up capacity arises, for a stand-alone system energy storage is the main issue. Apart from pumped-storage hydro systems (see below), no such means exist at present, at least on any large scale.

However, a distinct advantage of solar and to some extent other renewable systems is that they are distributed and may be near the points of demand, thereby reducing power transmission losses if traditional generating plants are distant. Of course, this same feature sometimes counts against wind in that the best sites for harnessing it are sometimes remote from population, and the main back-up for lack of wind in one place is wind blowing hard in another, hence requiring a wide network with flexible operation.

World Energy needs and Nuclear Energy
The world will need greatly increased energy supply in the next 20 years, especially cleanly-generated electricity.

  • Electricity demand is increasing much more rapidly than overall energy use and is likely to almost double from 2004 to 2030.

  • Nuclear power provides over 16% of the world's electricity, almost 24% of electricity in some countries, and 34% in the EU. Its use is increasing.

  • Nuclear power is the most environmentally benign way of producing electricity on a large scale. Without it most of the world would have to rely almost entirely on fossil fuels for base-load electricity production.

  • Renewable energy sources other than hydro have high generating costs but are helpful at the margin in providing clean power.

From 1980 to 2004 total world primary energy demand grew by 54%, and to 2030 it is projected to grow at much the same rate (average 1.6% per year, from 469 EJ to 716 EJ). Electricity growth is even stronger And is projected to almost double from 2004 to 2030 (growing at average 2.6% per year from 17,408 TWh to 33,750 TWh). Increased demand is most dramatic in developing countries and that is projected to increase, as the following graph indicates. Currently some two billion people have no access to electricity, and it is a high priority to address this lack.

With the United Nations predicting world population growth from 6.4 billion in 2004 to 8.1 billion by 2030, demand for energy must increase substantially over that period. Both population growth and increasing standards of living for many people in developing countries will cause strong growth in energy demand, expected to be 1.6% per year, or 53% from 2004 to 2030.

Nuclear power generation is an established part of the world's electricity mix providing over 16% of world electricity (cf. coal 40%, oil 10%, natural gas 15% and hydro & other 19%). It is especially suitable for large-scale, base-load electricity demand.

Nuclear Power Today
Nuclear generation began 50 years ago and now generates as much global electricity as was produced then by all sources. Some two-thirds of world population lives in nations where nuclear power plants are an integral part of electricity production and industrial infrastructures. Half the world's people live in countries where new nuclear power reactors are in planning or under construction. Thus, a rapid expansion of global nuclear power would require no fundamental change - simply an acceleration of existing strategies.

Today nearly 440 nuclear reactors produce electricity around the world. More than 15 countries rely on nuclear power for 25% or more of their electricity. In Europe and Japan, the nuclear share of electricity is over 30%. In the U.S., nuclear power creates 20% of electricity.

Around the world, scientists in more than 50 countries use nearly 300 research reactors to investigate nuclear technologies and to produce radioisotopes for medical diagnosis and cancer therapy. Meanwhile, on the world's oceans, nuclear reactors have powered over 400 ships without harm to crews or the environment.

In the Cold War's aftermath, a key activity is the removal of nuclear material from weapons and its conversion to fuel for civil nuclear power.

Many countries have a strong commitment to nuclear power. Among these are China, India, the United States, Russia and Japan, which together represent half of world population. Other nations - such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, South Korea, South Africa, Ukraine and several other countries in Central and Eastern Europe - are acting to increase the role of nuclear power in their economies. Key developing nations without nuclear power - such as Indonesia, Egypt and Vietnam - are considering this option.

Nuclear power provides energy independence and security of supply. France, with 60 million people, obtains over 75% of its electricity from nuclear power and is the world's largest net exporter of electricity. Italy's 60 million people have no nuclear power and are the world's largest importers of electricity.

Nuclear Energy Tomorrow

There are a few things that must be in place for the continuous development of nuclear energy as a resource in the future, they are:
First, the nuclear industry will need to sustain the dramatic improvements in plant performance achieved over the last two decades. The nation's nuclear power stations have been operating at around 90% of capacity year round--with many plants exceeding 95%. During the last decade alone, nuclear stations--simply by running as well as they did across the country--avoided some 800 million tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, not to mention millions of tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants. Operational excellence is indispensable to the industry's future.

Second, the regulatory and policy environment will need to be reasonably stable and predictable to encourage investment. Nuclear power stations are multi-billion dollar, long-term propositions--not the type of project that any company can afford to undertake without a full and careful weighing of risk. If a company decided to build a nuclear plant, it would be at least 10 years before it began producing electricity--and this is an optimistic estimate. The licensing and certification process for building a new nuclear facility is exceptionally lengthy and complex. To the extent it can be simplified, it should be.

To reduce regulatory and policy risk to acceptable levels, it is also necessary to resolve issues surrounding the storage of nuclear waste. Nuclear plants were not originally designed for long-term, high-level waste storage. Our nation must summon the political will to move ahead with a permanent disposal solution.

Finally, public support will be vital. Polls indicate that nuclear energy enjoys approval ratings of 80% or higher in communities within 10 miles of power stations. A growing number of scientists and environmentalists have spoken positively about nuclear technology's role in combating climate change. There are signs the public elsewhere is becoming more aware of nuclear energy's benefits too.

The world is changing rapidly--and public opinion needs to change along with it. Coming to grips with the reality of a carbon-constrained world means coming to grips with nuclear energy as one of our most important energy resources.

Climate change challenges us to think and act in new ways regarding how we use and provide energy. Yet it should not be thought of simply as a huge problem to be surmounted, but as an unmatched opportunity to grow the economy, promote innovation and create new jobs while protecting the planet for future generations.

We need new investment, business and regulatory models for a new age. If we create them, we will go a long way toward building a safer, brighter and greener future for us all.

The Geodynamic Ltd Project

People could be using "green nuclear" energy in their homes within three years as entrepreneurs rush to produce zero-emissions electricity.

Geodynamics Ltd said it had sped up plans to harness the heat generated by natural nuclear activity deep beneath the central Australian desert.

The company plans to pipe high-pressure hot water from the granite bedrock four kilometres beneath the Queensland-South Australia border, where the slow decay of potassium, thorium and uranium generates temperatures as high as 300 degrees. The granite is hot because of the natural nuclear activity in there - it's green nuclear.

The company to send electricity to the national power grid by 2010 and later directly to western Sydney. Some scientists say hot-rocks technology could soon deliver huge volumes of economically viable power, thanks to the continent having the hottest and most geologically favourable granite deposits on earth.

The granite in South Australia's Cooper basin contains "fractures" that hold super-hot, high-pressure water. It could power a steam turbine then recyle water back into the bedrock for reheating. The hotter the water, the more efficiently it can be converted into electricity.

Geodynamic, assisted by $11.8 million in federal grants, said it would produce one megawatt of electricity for about $45 an hour - compared with coal power of about $35.

Estimated cost of nuclear energy at $40-$65, "clean coal" at $50-$100 and photovoltaic solar energy as high as $120.

The Statkraft Project

Safer, cleaner nuclear power is a step closer to reality after Norway's state-owned energy company, Statkraft, this week announced plans to investigate building a thorium-fuelled nuclear reactor.

Statkraft (which translates to "state power") announced an alliance with regional power providers Vattenfall in Sweden, and Fortum in Finland, along with Norwegian energy investment company, Scatec AS, in a bid to produce the thorium-fuelled plant.

Thorium (Th-232), has been hailed as a 'greener' alternative to traditional nuclear fuels, such as uranium and plutonium, because thorium is incapable of producing the runaway chain reaction which in a uranium-fuelled reactor can cause a catastrophic meltdown. Thorium reactors also produce only a tiny fraction of the hazardous waste created by uranium-fuelled reactors.

Statkraft, which is already Europe's second largest producer of renewable energy has recently made thorium-fuelled nuclear power a point of serious consideration.

To date, thorium has seen only limited application, such as by U.S. company, Thorium Power, which produces mixed uranium-thorium fuel for use in conventional nuclear reactors. However a reactor fuelled entirely by thorium would have significant advantages over conventional uranium or mixed-fuel reactors.

Besides their inability to go critical and their low generation of waste, thorium-fuelled reactors don't suffer from the same proliferation risks as uranium reactors. This is because the thorium by-products cannot be re-processed into weapons-grade material.

Thorium also doesn't require enrichment before use as a nuclear fuel, and thorium is an abundant natural resource, with vast deposits in Australia, the United States, India and Norway.

Another advantage of thorium-powered reactors is they can be used to 'burn' highly radioactive waste by-products from conventional uranium-fuelled power plants.

Because thorium is incapable of achieving a self-sustaining chain reaction – unlike uranium or plutonium – it needs energy to be injected into the reactor to keep it running. This energy comes in the form of neutrons from a particle accelerator. For this reason, a thorium-fuelled reactor is also sometimes called a sub-critical reactor.

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