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04.08

Congressional Briefing on Emerging Nuclear Technology

By Joseph T. Cioletti

On 17 January 2008, IEEE-USA, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Westinghouse Electric Company jointly participated in a Congressional Research and Development Caucus briefing on emerging nuclear technology. IEEE-USA coordinated the briefing to assist House members with a shared interest in promoting technical innovation in the United States.

The Congressional R&D Caucus is co-chaired by U.S. Representatives Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) and Rush Holt (D-N.J.). The group holds periodic briefings to highlight the importance of research and development, and consider the interdependency of research efforts across engineering and scientific disciplines. The Caucus also helps keep members of Congress informed on the benefits of continued investment in research and development.

The January session was devoted to new nuclear plant design. Bryan Erler, chair-elect of the ASME Board on Nuclear Codes & Standards, discussed the evolving role of codes and standards relating to material needs to support advanced nuclear plant designs, as well as the need for testing and certification of those materials and their associated fabrication processes.

John Goossen, director of Westinghouse’s Science & Technology Department, provided an overview of a number of new plant designs on the immediate horizon.
The AP1000™ pressurized water reactor (PWR) is the only Generation III+ (the designation for an advance/passive design) reactor to receive Design Certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The AP1000™, which is based on the proven experience of current Westinghouse-designed PWRs, is an advanced 1154 MWe nuclear power plant that uses the forces of nature and simplicity of design to enhance plant safety and operations and reduce construction time and costs. This technology is currently being considered by a number of U.S. utilities for construction over the next decade.

The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), a smaller, 165 MWe plant, operates at high temperatures, is helium-cooled and inherently safe. Plant modules can be linked to meet the greater generation requirements of smaller markets. A major advantage of the PBMR is that its tennis-ball sized fuel balls can be continuously replaced so that the plant can operate for up to 6 years between maintenance outages. Operating at high temperatures, the reactor is directly applicable to hydrogen generation if the United States is serious about moving to a hydrogen economy. A PBMR demonstration unit will soon start construction in South Africa, and the reactor is in the pre-application stage with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The Super Safe, Small and Simple (4S) is a sodium-cooled reactor designed for remote areas for smaller power demand (10 MWe). Like the AP1000™, it uses passive safety systems and has an extended refueling cycle of approximately 30 years.

The highly-innovative International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) has an integral vessel that houses the core, stream generators, pressurizer and support structures, upper internals, control rod guides, and reactor coolant pumps. The advanced integral light water reactor was designed by an international team and it is currently recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) as grid appropriate (335 MWe) with NRC pre-application underway and an estimated deployment target of 2015-17.

The Caucus discussed innovative applications for process heat from nuclear plants. For instance, steam generated from nuclear reactors can be used to recover oil from shale or oil sands. The process heat can also be used for cogeneration or steam methane reforming to obtain hydrogen, methane or methanol. Other applications for process heat include water splitting (H2 and O2) for producing bulk hydrogen, coal-to-liquids or coal-to-methane. These are important considerations with the current renaissance in nuclear generation in the United States.

The Caucus considered the significant challenges to achieving this nuclear generation renaissance in the United States. These challenges include: recruiting or training experienced nuclear engineers; funding to support new nuclear development; streamlining the licensing process for new designs and the appropriateness of new codes and standards to support next generation designs.

All parties urged the government to support ongoing or pending Department of Energy initiatives, these include: the Nuclear Power 2010 Initiative that supports the new plant renaissance; the Next Generation Nuclear Plant for the Generation IV- High Temperature gas cooled reactor (the PBMR); the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) for fuel recycling facilities; and the Advanced Recycling Reactor (ARR) development and Grid Appropriate Reactions such as the IRIS. The group also urged support for resource requirements for NRC licensing efforts.

In short, there is general agreement on the urgent need to expand funding to support new nuclear research and development.

Every day our nation faces difficult questions related to engineering and technology. The Congressional Caucus provided an overview of emerging nuclear technology to allow members of Congress to make better-informed decisions.

Joseph T. Cioletti is principal engineer of repair, replacement & automation services at the Westinghouse Electric Company in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.