The United States Federal Government should obtain electricity from small modular reactors for its military installations in the United States.
DOD SMR acquisition accelerates commercialization and solves adoptionCSPO 10, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at ASU, four policy principles for energy innovation & climate change: a synthesis, June, http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/files/Synthesis.pdf
Government purchase of new technologies is a powerful way to accelerate innovation through increased demand (Principle 3a). We explore how this principle can be applied by considering how the DoD could purchase new nuclear reactor designs to meet electric power needs for DoD bases and operations. Small modular nuclear power reactors (SMRs), which generate less than 300 MW of power (as compared to more typical reactors built in the 1000 MW range) are often listed as a potentially transformative energy technology. While typical traditional large-scale nuclear power plants can cost five to eight billion dollars, smaller nuclear reactors could be developed at smaller scale, thus not presenting a bet the company financial risk. SMRs could potentially be mass manufactured as standardized modules and then delivered to sites, which could significantly reduce costs per unit of installed capacity as compared to todays large scale conventional reactor designs. It is likely that some advanced reactors designs including molten salt reactors and reactors utilizing thorium fuels could be developed as SMRs. Each of these designs offers some combination of inherently safe operation, very little nuclear proliferation risk, relatively small nuclear waste management needs, very abundant domestic fuel resources, and high power densities all of which are desirable attributes for significant expansion of nuclear energy. Currently, several corporations have been developing small nuclear reactors. Table 2 lists several of these companies and their reactor power capacities, as well as an indication of the other types of reactor innovations that are being incorporated into the designs. Some of these technologies depend on the well-established light water reactor, while others use higher energy neutrons, coolants capable of higher temperature operation, and other innovative approaches. Some of these companies, such as NuScale, intend to be able to connect as many as 24 different nuclear modules together to form one larger nuclear power plant. In addition to the different power ranges described in Table 2, these reactors vary greatly in size, some being only 3 to 6 feet on each side, while the NuScale reactor is 60 feet long and 14 feet in diameter. Further, many of these reactors produce significant amounts of high-temperature heat, which can be harnessed for process heating, gas turbine generators, and other operations. One major obstacle is to rapid commercialization and development are prolonged multi-year licensing times with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Currently, the NRC will not consider a reactor for licensing unless there is a power utility already prepared to purchase the device. Recent Senate legislation introduced by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has pushed for DOE support in bringing down reactor costs and in helping to license and certify two reactor designs with the NRC. Some additional opportunities to facilitate the NRC licensing process for innovative small modular reactors would be to fund NRC to conduct participatory research to get ahead of potential license applications (this might require ~$100million/year) and potentially revise the current requirement that licensing fees cover nearly all NRC licensing review costs. One option for accelerating SMR development and commercialization, would be for DOD to establish SMR procurement specifications (to include cost) and agree to purchase a sufficient amount of SMRs to underwrite private sector SMR development. Of note here may be that DARPA recently (3/30/10) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Deployable Reactor Technologies for Generating Power and Logistic Fuels2 that specifies may features that would be highly desirable in an advanced commercial SMR. While other specifications including coproduction of mobility fuel are different than those of a commercial SMR power reactor, it is likely that a core reactor design meeting the DARPA inquiry specifications would be adaptable to commercial applications. While nuclear reactors purchased and used by DOD are potentially exempt from many NRC licensing requirements3, any reactor design resulting from a DOD procurement contract would need to proceed through NRC licensing before it could be commercially offered. Successful use of procured SMRs for DOD purposes could provide the knowledge and operational experience needed to aid NRC licensing and it might be possible for the SMR contractor to begin licensing at some point in the SMR development process4. Potential purchase of small modular nuclear reactors would be a powerful but proven way in which government procurement of new energy technologies could encourage innovation. Public procurement of other renewable energy technologies could be similarly important.
Incentives inevitableJeffrey Tomich 11-2, energy reporter for the St Louis Dispatch, Ameren, Westinghouse still waiting for decision on nuclear grant, http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ameren-westinghouse-still-waiting-for-decision-on-nuclear-grant/article_1b46d35b-eda4-5c15-9b08-b0ed80caf2bf.html
It was six months ago that Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse officials joined Gov. Jay Nixon on the lawn of the governors mansion to announce plans to pursue a first-of-its-kind mini nuclear reactor that would be built next to the utilitys Callaway plant.The effort had bipartisan political support. Other Missouri electricity suppliers were on board, as well as the states university system. Everything seemed in place almost.The whole plan hinged on getting at least a share of a $452 million federal grant to advance commercialization of next-generation nuclear technology.Today, a month after the Department of Energy was supposed to announce who would share the federal money, Ameren and Westinghouse are still waiting. And with the presidential election just days away, heightened scrutiny of energy technology subsidies, a growing budget deficit and a potential change in administrations are looming.An Energy Department spokeswoman said applications are still under review. She didnt say when a decision would be made.The companies have reason to be anxious. The government has laid out an ambitious timetable for those who share the award. The winning teams are expected to have the next-generation reactors running by 2022, leaving a decade to design, license and build a new breed of nuclear plant.The team is kind of counting on that (grant) right now, Joe Zwetolitz, president of Westinghouse Americas, said Tuesday at a conference for potential suppliers at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Its really necessary to help spur development.President Barack Obama announced the availability of grant funding for so-called small nuclear reactors in March during a stop in Columbus, Ohio, as part of his all-of-the-above energy strategy. Two projects will share the $452 million over a five-year span.The small-scale reactors, generally less than a third the size of todays plants, have been touted by the nuclear industry as carbon-free sources of around-the-clock electric generation that offer safety benefits and would be easier for utilities to finance and deploy.Thats only part of the reason the federal government is willing to throw almost half a billion dollars at developing the technology. The Obama administration also sees modular nuclear plants as another piece of an American manufacturing revival one with potential to generate thousands of jobs building components that can be shipped overseas.The possibility for jobs is also a big draw for Nixon and other local politicians, especially because Westinghouse has said it would build a manufacturing plant in Missouri if it wins the grant and a market for the mini reactors develops.The Ameren-Westinghouse team is one of four that applied for the federal grant in May. Other competing ventures include established names, such as Babcock & Wilcox Co., as well as NuScale Power LLC and Holtec International Inc., both relative newcomers.Nick Cunningham, a policy analyst for the American Security Project, a nonprofit research group, believes the upcoming election may have temporarily derailed an announcement, but he believes it will come eventually since both candidates are on record as supporting advances of nuclear power.I think it will move forward next year, he said.Westinghouse officials say theyre ready to submit design certification for the small reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year. And while Amerens timing is less certain, the utility could apply for a construction and operating license as early as 2014.DoD acquisition of SMRs ensures rapid military adoption, commercialization, and U.S. leadershipAndres and Breetz 11Richard Andres, Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College and a Senior Fellow and Energy and Environmental Security and Policy Chair in the Center for Strategic Research, Institute for National Strategic Studies, at the National Defense University, and Hanna Breetz, doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Small Nuclear Reactorsfor Military Installations:Capabilities, Costs, andTechnological Implications, www.ndu.edu/press/lib/pdf/StrForum/SF-262.pdf
Thus far, this paper has reviewed two of DODs most pressing energy vulnerabilitiesgrid insecurity and fuel convoysand explored how they could be addressed by small reactors. We acknowledge that there are m