The authors of a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that unless nuclear energy is "meaningfully incorporated" into the global mix of low-carbon energy technologies, the challenge of climate change will be much more difficult and costly to solve.

Issues of cost and policy need to be addressed if nuclear energy is to be counted as a major low-carbon energy source, they say.

In The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World, released by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), the authors analyze the reasons for what they say is a "global stall" of nuclear energy capacity and discuss measures that could be taken to arrest and reverse that trend.

The study group was led by MIT researchers in collaboration with colleagues from Idaho National Laboratory and the University of Madison-Wisconsin.

(Read "JV Bags Two More Nukes for Fast Track Decommissioning.")

“Our analysis demonstrates that realizing nuclear energy’s potential is essential to achieving a deeply decarbonized energy future in many regions of the world,” said study co-chair Jacopo Buongiorno of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at MIT. New policy and business models, as well as innovations in construction, could help nuclear energy meet global demand for power while decreasing emissions to address climate change.

Global electricity consumption is on track to grow 45 percent by 2040, and the team’s analysis shows that excluding nuclear from low-carbon scenarios could cause the average cost of electricity to escalate dramatically. Nuclear energy currently accounts for around 5% of installed generating capacity worldwide.

Duane Arnold nuclear station in Iowa is set to close in 2020.Cost was a major factor in the July 2018 decision to close the 615 megawatt Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa's only nuclear power reactor, in late 2020. Alliant Energy agreed with NextEra Energy Resources to shorten its existing power purchase agreement in exchange for a $110 million buyout payment.

Even though the plant was given a 20-year license extension by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate until 2034, it was placed at risk when Alliant Energy said it would buy electricity from less expensive sources such as wind. The deal is expected to save Iowa consumers $300 million over the next 21 years.

Reactor Construction Techniques

The MIT researchers find that changes in reactor construction are needed to usher in an era of safer, more cost-effective reactors, including proven construction management practices that can keep nuclear projects on time and on budget.

“A shift towards serial manufacturing of standardized plants, including more aggressive use of fabrication in factories and shipyards, can be a viable cost-reduction strategy in countries where the productivity of the traditional construction sector is low,” says David Petti of the Idaho National Laboratory. “Future projects should also incorporate reactor designs with inherent and passive safety features.”

These safety features could include core materials with high chemical and physical stability and engineered safety systems that require limited or no emergency AC power and minimal external intervention. The researchers said that features like these can reduce the probability of severe accidents occurring and mitigate offsite consequences in the event of an incident. Such designs can also ease the licensing of new plants and accelerate their global deployment.

The study also says that government officials must create new decarbonization policies that put all low-carbon energy technologies (renewables, nuclear and fossil fuels with carbon capture technologies) on an equal footing, while also exploring options that spur private investment in nuclear advancement.

The authors recommend that policymakers should avoid premature closures of existing plants, which undermine efforts to reduce emissions and increase the cost of achieving emission reduction targets.

(Read "Could Retirements Push U.S. Nuclear Power Off a Cliff?")

One way to avoid these closures is to implement zero-emissions credits — payments made to electricity producers where electricity is generated without greenhouse gas emissions. Such payments are in place in New York, Illinois and New Jersey.

(Read "Court Tosses Challenge to Nuke Zero-Emission Credit.")

Another suggestion from the study is that the government support development and demonstration of new nuclear technologies through the use of four “levers:” funding to share regulatory licensing costs, funding to share research and development costs, funding to achieve specific technical milestones, and funding for production credits to reward successful demonstration of new designs.

Although the authors note that significant social political and cultural differences may exist among many of the countries in the nuclear energy community, they say that the fundamental basis for assessing the safety of nuclear reactor programs is fairly uniform, and should be reflected in a series of basic aligned regulatory principles. They recommend regulatory requirements for advanced reactors be coordinated and aligned internationally to enable international deployment of commercial reactor designs, and to standardize and ensure a high level of safety worldwide.