As the world's largest nuclear power producer, the United States produces more than 30% of the world's nuclear power generation, accounting for 20% of the total U.S. power generation. However, almost all U.S. nuclear power production capacity was approved 40 years ago, and existing reactors are being decommissioned. The traditional nuclear power industry has large investment and high safety requirements. It is difficult to compete with low-cost natural gas and government-subsidized wind power. However, the U.S. nuclear power industry has been looking for a new direction of development.

(Source: The Journal of Environment and Life, Author: Distinguished (from the United States)

Most commercial reactors in the United States are owned by private companies, and the private participation of the entire nuclear industry is much higher than that of other countries. Due to the large investment and long recovery period of nuclear power, it is difficult to compete with low-cost natural gas and government-subsidized wind power. In addition, the escalating requirements for safety protection have also become a stumbling block for the development and innovation of nuclear industry.

Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident is a Turning Point

According to the official website of the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, total electricity generation in the United States in 2017 was 4015.

Data Source: Mapping/Curvature of the U.S. Energy and Information Administration's Official Website

At present, the United States has 99 nuclear power reactors, operated by 30 different power companies. Almost all U.S. nuclear power capacity comes from reactors approved before 1978 and built between 1967 and 1990. This is mainly due to the fact that natural gas power generation has become more economically attractive over the years, the increased security concerns following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, and the frequent obstruction of anti-nuclear factions in the 1970s and 1980s, which have limited the pace of nuclear power development in the United States.

In the late 1950s, Shippingport, the world's first commercial nuclear power plant, began operating. In the 1980s, it became the first successful decommissioned nuclear power plant in the United States.

The worst nuclear accident in the United States occurred on March 28, 1979 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. At that time, the core of reactor No. 2 melted down due to the failure of pressure valve, design problems and human errors. However, due to the very conservative design principles of Western reactors, no casualties were caused and no cancer cases were found afterwards. Nevertheless, the Three Mile Island accident remains a critical turning point for the U.S. nuclear industry. It has brought about large-scale changes in emergency planning, reactor operator training, human factor engineering, radiation protection and many other areas of nuclear power plant operation. It has also led to the tightening and strengthening of its supervision by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, thereby improving safety.

However, the public began to question the construction of nuclear power plants, many orders and projects were cancelled or postponed, and the government's safety requirements for the nuclear industry were greatly increased. Since then, the United States has not issued construction permits for new nuclear power plants for 30 years, and approved new plant construction has generally been delayed, with costs far exceeding budgets.

However, the nuclear industry in the United States has not declined. On the contrary, its safety and operational performance have increased dramatically, and its dependence on nuclear power has also increased. Most of the U.S. nuclear power capacity comes from reactors approved for construction before 1977, most of which began operating in the 1980s. By 1990, the United States had more than 100 nuclear reactors. Despite the stagnation of new plant construction, the U.S. nuclear industry has made remarkable achievements in plant utilization by improving the raw material supply, maintenance and safety systems of existing nuclear power plants. By the turn of the century, the average net capacity factor (an indicator of the effective utilization of installed capacity) of nuclear power in the United States was over 90%, and all safety indicators exceeded the target.

Wind power may be the strongest competitor

High costs may be the direct cause of the stagnation of nuclear power development in the United States. Nuclear power in the United States has two strong competitors: low-cost natural gas (especially shale gas) and government-subsidized wind power. Although a tax on carbon dioxide emissions will help nuclear power compete with natural gas and coal, this policy will not be introduced in the short term. Nuclear power equipment operates at a higher cost per kilowatt hour and is less competitive. Natural gas prices are low. Wind power generators receive a federal production tax credit of $2.3 per kilowatt hour, and priority is given to access to the grid. When the market price is below 4 cents per kilowatt-hour, nuclear power plants are in a tight spot. Exelon, the largest U.S. nuclear power operator, argues that competition between nuclear power and cheap natural gas can be prolonged, but government-subsidized wind power can wipe out nuclear power. Although wind power is currently only a small part of the electricity supply, and most of the time in a state of shutdown or semi-shutdown, its impact on electricity prices and the survival of power plants is "critical".

Nuclear power supporter Matthew Wald of the Nuclear Energy Institute

Opponents of nuclear power argue that once the plant can no longer be used for power generation, it will need a lot of money to dismantle. The decommissioning process takes decades, and there are many safety risks due to radiation and structural complexity.

President Trump, who values economic efficiency, signed an executive order on energy independence, reducing government subsidies for clean energy such as wind power. Trump believes that American electricity should be "affordable, reliable, accident-proof, attack-proof, and clean and harmless", so the U.S. nuclear industry believes that a turnaround is coming.

In March 2017, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order on energy independence policy, which was seen as a turning point by the U.S. nuclear industry.

New nuclear power plants were abandoned far beyond budget

After the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979, the first two new nuclear power plants approved by the United States were the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant in South Carolina and the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. The construction of the two nuclear power plants was announced in 2008, which was known as the "Renaissance of the American nuclear industry".

However, by 2017, Hume's nuclear power plant had consumed more than $10 billion, exceeded its budget greatly, the project was seriously overdue, and the budget for the continued construction of nuclear power plants had increased significantly. Operator S.C.

The Fargot nuclear power plant is located in Burke County, Georgia, in the southeastern United States. Units 1 and 2 were completed in 1987 and 1989 respectively. Units 3 and 4 are under construction for the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor. This is the only nuclear power plant project under construction in the United States at present, but it is also far beyond the budget, and the project is seriously overdue.

The two projects cost contractor Westinghouse nearly $10 billion and forced it to file for bankruptcy protection. Cost overruns are caused by the society's pursuit of perfection and avoidance of potential safety hazards. Too strict supervision requirements improve the complexity of construction. After the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan, the regulatory requirements for nuclear safety have been greatly increased, and the nuclear power industry still lacks economic and effective experience in dealing with harsh regulation.

Westinghouse's AP1000 nuclear power unit belongs to the latest third generation nuclear reactor technology and has inherent safety characteristics. Not only for "Hume" and "Forget" nuclear power plants, but also for the two nuclear power plants in Zhejiang Sanmen and Shandong Haiyang. In March 2017, Westinghouse and 30 affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy protection, involving tens of thousands of creditors. Westinghouse said it would continue to work on AP1000 technology and continue to support factories built in China.

The recently built nuclear power plant in the United States is Watts, Tennessee.

Because of the high cost, long cycle, low profit and high risk, the nuclear industry is indeed facing a lot of difficulties in the market. The future budget for new nuclear power plants is staggering. In the face of such a dangerous business environment, the U.S. nuclear industry is also looking for new opportunities.

Reducing cost of small modules or trends

The economic risk of nuclear power plants with high cost and long construction period is too high to attract investment. So where is the future of the U.S. nuclear industry?

One solution is to build a small modular reactor. Its goal is to simplify the construction process and mass-produce reactors that can be equipped with conventional equipment. Small modular reactors operate in much the same way as large plants, but can greatly reduce construction time and total costs. Modules can be manufactured in factories, and then the whole module can be shipped to the site, which greatly reduces the difficulty of field assembly. In this way, the core work has shifted from expensive and inefficient construction sites to cheaper and more productive manufacturing plants.

NuScale is a private company called NuScale Energy.

The single module of Nuskell is less than 25 meters in length, 4.6 meters in diameter, and weighs about 450 tons. It can generate 50 MW of power.

In December 2016, Nuskell submitted its first design certification application (DCA) to the NRC, including 12,000 pages, which was approved by the NRC on March 15, 2017.

NuScale was invested by the U.S. Department of Energy (2000-2003) and developed by Oregon State University. Through technology transfer, the project's scientists obtained the exclusive right to use related patents in 2007 and gradually commercialized them. In 2013, Nuskell received more than $200 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. Nuskell is currently planning to build its first nuclear power plant using the Nuskell design model at the National Laboratory in Idaho, and is expected to be commercially operational by 2025.

However, there are still critics who say that although the construction cost of small modular nuclear power plants is expected to be lower than that of traditional nuclear power plants, it is still far higher than other types of power plants, which has not fundamentally solved the problem of high nuclear power costs.

The fourth generation of nuclear power is on the horizon

The main reason for the lack of innovation in nuclear energy is that it is difficult to obtain the necessary equipment and infrastructure for highly specialized and often dangerous research. However, the United States is still actively developing the next generation of nuclear power reactors for the following reasons:

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that world electricity demand will double by 2030. The U.S. Department of Energy believes that U.S. electricity demand will increase by 45% in 20 years.

Nuclear energy is not affected by unreliable weather/climate conditions or insufficient supply of natural resources.

(3) Maintaining or increasing the share of nuclear energy in the national energy structure will reduce fluctuations in electricity prices and save traditional petrochemical raw materials for other uses.

(4) Nuclear power can help to meet the requirements of clean air by controlling the emission of greenhouse gases and harmful particulates.

There are 31 research reactors in the United States, most of which belong to universities and national laboratories. National laboratory is a platform for basic research, which can effectively provide a bridge between University and industry.

Generation IV International Forum,

There are currently six spectrum-based design concepts for the fourth generation of nuclear power technology, namely:

Gas cooled fast reactor (GFR), ultra high temperature reactor (VHTR), supercritical water cooled reactor (SCWR), sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR), lead cooled fast reactor (LFR) and molten salt reactor (MSR).

These reactor concepts are designed to meet the world's energy needs for the future: they can effectively utilize uranium (many of which can use depleted uranium or "spent" fuel from current reactors); eliminate most of the nuclear waste from current reactors by conversion; generate hydrogen for other purposes; are intrinsically safe and easy to operate; and have obvious characteristics compared with other forms of energy production. Price advantage, and construction and operation of the financial risk is not higher than other energy sources.

These reactor concepts are currently at different levels of development, and the first deployment of the fourth generation reactor is expected to be completed by 2025. The development potential of these projects is enormous. For example, the hydrogen provided by a molten salt reactor designed to consume one ton of uranium per year can supply three million vehicles.