Nuclear and its Role in a Carbon Constrained

Nuclear and its Role in a Carbon Constrained World 1. What is Nuclear Energy and Who’s got it? 2. Nuclear Energy as a Low Carbon Energy Source 3. Current Practice with Generation 2 and 3 Reactors Near future with Small Modular Reactors - Nu. Scale 4. Dealing with Used Fuel and Gen IV reactors 5. A solution to Australia’s energy security and emissions reductions 1

1. What is Nuclear Energy and Who’s Got It? 2

Very high Power intensity for Nuclear Reactors A 1000 MW(e) plant requires the following number of tonnes (t) of fuel annually: • 2, 600, 000 t coal: 813 trains (3200 t each) • 2, 000 t oil: 10 super tankers • 30 t uranium: reactor core (10 cubic metres) 3

236. 053 amu in → 235. 867 amu out 0. 186 x C 2= 172. 57 Me. V + 26 Me. V delayed e. g. 1 n+ 235 U→ 137 Cs+ 96 Rb+ 3 neutrons 4

5

Fission Power Reactor - PWR 7 8 2 9 14 3 1 5 13 6 11 10 6

7

French nuclear programme. 58 nuclear power plants in 22 years 8

2. Nuclear Energy as a Low Carbon Electricity Source 9

What does renewable really mean? Materials Intensity of generating plants 18, 000 11 times nuke 16, 000 Fuel 14, 000 Steel Silicon 7 times nuke 10, 000 Plastic Lead 8, 000 Iron 6, 000 Glass 4, 000 Copper 2, 000 Concrete Cement al m Aluminium er ot h Ge d in PV ar So l Generating source W o dr Hy s as om Bi R PW ar Nu cle NG CC l 0 Co a Tonnes/TWh 12, 000 10

11 An Assessment of Energy Technologies and Research Opportunities, Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR), 2015, US DOE

German vs French Emissions Angela Merkel, 22 January 2019 : " When we participate in conferences on the climate, Emmanuel Macron has a small advantage over me because he has so many nuclear power plants that he emits very little CO 2 " 12

Nuclear Power has proven to be Humanity’s Fastest Tool for Decarbonisation 13

3. Current Practice Generation 2 and 3 Reactors 14

Evolution of Reactors 15

Shin Kori Units 1 and 2 near Busan in South Korea 2 x 997 MW OPR 1000 Nuclear Power Plants 16

General Plant Data Electrical Power Output Gross/Net 1, 050 / 1, 000 MWe Thermal Power 2, 815 MWth Design Lifetime 60 years Seismic Design Basis SSE 0. 3 g Reactor Core Active Core Length 3, 810 mm Equivalent Core Diameter 3, 120 mm Average Linear Heat Rate 17. 26 k. W/m Number of Fuel Assemblies 177, 16 x 16 array Number of Control Element Assemblies 73 Fuel Cycle Length 18 – 24 months APR 1000 1400 APR Design Features Turbine Number 1 High Pressure and 3 Low pressure Type 6 Flow, Tandem Compound Speed 1, 800 rpm Reactor Coolant System Number of Coolant Loops 2 Operating Pressure 15. 52 mpa Coolant Inlet Temperature 17 296 C Coolant Outlet Temperature 327 C

Near future Small Modular Reactors Nu. Scale 18

Reactor Building Fuel Handling Machine Reactor Building Crane Module Inspection Area Spent Fuel Pool Spent Fuel Storage Racks Reactor Flange Tool Containment Flange Tool • Spent fuel pool has capacity to store: – 10 years of spent fuel • Spent fuel storage racks – Seismic Category I – high density design – neutron absorber material for criticality control • Module assembly equipment – reactor module assembly/disassembly – refueling core – loading dry storage cask 19

Stable Long-Term Cooling Under all Conditions Reactor and nuclear fuel cooled indefinitely without pumps or power WATER COOLING BOILING AIR COOLING DHRS – Decay Heat Removal System * Based on conservative calculations assuming all 12 modules in simultaneous upset conditions and reduced pool water inventory 20

4. Dealing with used fuel and Gen IV reactors 21

Deep disposal in granite 500 m down 22

Actinide partitioning and Transmutation Neptunium, Americium, Curium, Californium 23

24

BN 800 - Fast Breeder/Burner Reactor Power (thermal) 2100 MWth Power (electric) 789 MWe net, 885 MWe gross 25

High Temperature Gas Cooled reactors – Pebble Bed HTR-PM 2 units at Shidao Bay NPP in China Pebble Bed Reactor 110 MWe output per unit Low power density, Meltdown proof Self limiting reactor with no emergency core cooling required 26

5. A solution to Australia’s energy security and emissions reductions 27

Figure 23. Comparison of the residual load at different VRE generation shares. Impact on Capacity Factors The Costs of Decarbonisation: System Costs with High Shares of Nuclear and Renewables © OECD 2019 NEA No. 7299 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY / ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT 28

Figure 15. Average price of electricity as a function of pathways and emissions intensity targets - Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) The Costs of Decarbonisation: System Costs with High Shares of Nuclear and Renewables © OECD 2019 NEA No. 7299 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY / ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT 29

Figure 17. Optimal capacity mix for two main pathways as a function of the carbon target - ERCOT The Costs of Decarbonisation: System Costs with High Shares of Nuclear and Renewables © OECD 2019 NEA No. 7299 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY / ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT 30

Nuclear Replaces Coal with 20 Nuclear Power Plants 31

Renewables – 82% NEM Energy 45 GW Solar PV, 20 GW OCG, 3 GW Hydro, 37 GW Wind 5 GW Pumped Storage for 2 days = 240, 000 MWh , 130 gr CO 2/k. Wh 32

Nuclear – 82% NEM Energy 4 GW Solar PV, 6. 5 GW OCG, 3 GW Hydro, 20 GW Nuclear, 5 GW Pumped Storage for 2 days = 240, 000 MWh 50 gr CO 2/k. Wh 33

Modeled range of National Electricity Market energy schemes versus carbon emissions 0. 9 Case 1) - Existing NEM approximation Emissions Intensity in Tonnes/MWh 0. 8 0. 7 0. 6 0. 5 Case 2) - Replace all coal with open cycle gas 0. 4 Case 3) - 50% Nuclear generation 0. 3 Case 4) - 50% Renewables Case 6)-42% nuclear + 40% Combined Cycle Gas , Nil coal 0. 2 Case 5) - 90% Renewables + Pumped Storage and minor OCG Case 7)-82% nuclear +Hydro +PV+OCG+Pumped Storage 0. 1 0 $0 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $120 $140 $160 $180 $200 $220 $240 $260 $280 $300 $320 $340 $360 System Levelised Cost of Energy $/MWh 34

NSW/ACT Regions of Interest 35

https: //nuclearforclimate. com. au/ The Australian Nuclear Association http: //www. nuclearaustralia. org. au/ 36

Fukushima Province Radiation Measurements I took in 2017 37