In the ongoing public debate over how best to maintain secure and carbon-reduced power supplies, the potential value of nuclear is seldom adequately considered. Certainly, a (not unreasonable) concern for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel would be part of that. Yet that is not the only measure that matters..Not only is nuclear power safer than almost all other forms of generation, it also scores best on a metric that is seldom even mentioned, yet should be among the most important considerations of all: The ratio of energy in, to energy out over the lifetime of a project. And quietly, the industry is indeed growing: In the 25 years since my formal university training and career in the energy sector, I have not witnessed such an explosive growth in nuclear power generation technology, as we have seen globally over the past two years..It can be said that we are entering the second era of advanced nuclear technology development..The significance of the scale, pace and timeliness of the innovation in this industry needs to be emphasized against the backdrop of immense pressures on our conventional power markets, both from the so-called Net-Zero Transition and the explosive growth in power demand from wireless networks and large data centres. The exponential growth in power demand from the digital sector alone is expected to represent over 20% of total global demand by 2030..Those concerned over the safety of nuclear power should take assurance from the fact that of all modes of power generation, the nuclear industry has led them all for decades in terms of occupational health and safety performance.. Safest cleanest smaller .The fatality rate expressed as deaths per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electrical energy produced, clearly shows that conventional nuclear power is second only to solar photovoltaic (PV) and its CO2 emission intensity is the lowest of all generation technologies..No surprise then that for many jurisdictions, the European energy crisis and 2022's rampant energy inflation have caused a 180 degree policy reversal on nuclear power..Japan, which closed 27 nuclear plants following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, is now rapidly reactivating these plants in an effort to reduce reliance on expensive LNG exports for power generation..The European Union has even gone as far as classifying nuclear as “green energy.”.Early in 2022, a memorandum of understanding for the development of small modular reactor (SMR) advanced nuclear technologies was signed by Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick..Another extremely important positive characteristic of nuclear power generation is that it performs best when operated near maximum design output and rarely is required to shutdown for plant maintenance. Many nuclear power plants operate between 85 and 90% of the time near its maximum power rating. In this regard, nuclear is on a par with hydroelectric power plants and is better even than coal power..Comparatively, part-time, weather-dependent technologies like solar and wind generally operate at 10 to 30% of their maximum rating..Thus, when we further compare these technologies in terms of the amount of non-renewable materials used in their construction relative to the amount of energy they produce over their lifetimes, it is clear that nuclear and hydroelectric are the top environmental performers.. Fournier materials requirement .For this reason, the energy returned from power produced over a facility's operating lifetime relative to the energy invested in the mining, refining, manufacturing and construction, is highest for nuclear and hydroelectric. Thus, after 40 years of operation, the ratio of energy out to energy in (EROI) is upwards of 50 to 1. Meanwhile, the EROI for wind and solar is in the range of 3 to 1 and 7 to 1..Now that many of the nuclear facilities built during the 1970s to the 1980s are being retrofitted with modern turbines, generators and automation controls, it is estimated that many will last more than 60 years. This in turn pushes EROI as high as 70 to 1..With the collapse of many global supply chains over the past two years and mass inflation for parts and construction materials, technologies with high EROI are more important now than ever..Last but surely not the least, the high operating capacity and power density in Watts per unit area of nuclear power, also radically reduces the environmental footprint of the power generation facility. If we examine the size of nuclear power plants relative to a solar PV facility, the latter would have to occupy as much as 30 to 50 times more space to generate the same power. For wind it is even higher, requiring as much as 100 to 250 times the landmass as nuclear..The downside to third generation nuclear power plants is the highly persistent radioactivity of their spent nuclear fuel (SNF), which continues to be stockpiled. I will show in subsequent articles on this topic that there are fourth generation nuclear designs emerging here in Canada that will consume third generation SNF and thereby radically reduce both volumes and the radioactivity of these inventories..Another design limitation of third generation nuclear power plants is the use of pressurized water to moderate the nuclear reaction. This greatly reduces their operating temperature and therefore energy conversion efficiency. Fourth generation reactors have moved away from pressurized water and thus don’t require massive amounts of concrete and steel to contain the reactor..Most fourth generation nuclear designs are moving to much higher temperatures and thus are much more efficient and produce significantly smaller quantities of SNF..Stay tuned for the deeper dive into the exciting new world of fourth generation advanced nuclear power technology. I have my fingers crossed that Canada will once again emerge as a global leader in this space.
