The Technological and Economic Future of Nuclear Power PDF Download

Author: Reinhard Haas
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3658259876
Category : Agriculture (General)
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
This open access book discusses the eroding economics of nuclear power for electricity generation as well as technical, legal, and political acceptance issues. The use of nuclear power for electricity generation is still a heavily disputed issue. Aside from technical risks, safety issues, and the unsolved problem of nuclear waste disposal, the economic performance is currently a major barrier. In recent years, the costs have skyrocketed especially in the European countries and North America. At the same time, the costs of alternatives such as photovoltaics and wind power have significantly decreased. Contents History and Current Status of the World Nuclear Industry The Dramatic Decrease of the Economics of Nuclear Power Nuclear Policy in the EU The Legacy of Csernobyl and Fukushima Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants Alternatives: Heading Towards Sustainable Electricity Systems Target Groups Researchers and students in the fields of political, economic and technical sciences Energy (policy) experts, nuclear energy experts and practitioners, economists, engineers, consultants, civil society organizations The Editors Prof. Dr. Reinhard Haas is University Professor of energy economics at the Institute of Energy Systems and Electric Drives at Technische Universität Wien, Austria. PD Dr. Lutz Mez is Associate Professor at the Department for Political and Social Sciences of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. PD Dr. Amela Ajanovic is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Energy Systems and Electrical Drives at Technische Universität Wien, Austria.--

Author: Amela Ajanovic
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781013273957
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
This open access book discusses the eroding economics of nuclear power for electricity generation as well as technical, legal, and political acceptance issues. The use of nuclear power for electricity generation is still a heavily disputed issue. Aside from technical risks, safety issues, and the unsolved problem of nuclear waste disposal, the economic performance is currently a major barrier. In recent years, the costs have skyrocketed especially in the European countries and North America. At the same time, the costs of alternatives such as photovoltaics and wind power have significantly decreased. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309043956
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
The construction of nuclear power plants in the United States is stopping, as regulators, reactor manufacturers, and operators sort out a host of technical and institutional problems. This volume summarizes the status of nuclear power, analyzes the obstacles to resumption of construction of nuclear plants, and describes and evaluates the technological alternatives for safer, more economical reactors. Topics covered include: Institutional issues-including regulatory practices at the federal and state levels, the growing trends toward greater competition in the generation of electricity, and nuclear and nonnuclear generation options. Critical evaluation of advanced reactors-covering attributes such as cost, construction time, safety, development status, and fuel cycles. Finally, three alternative federal research and development programs are presented.

Author: Galen J. Suppes
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080466451
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
Sustainable Nuclear Power provides non-nuclear engineers, scientists and energy planners with the necessary information to understand and utilize the major advances in the field. The book demonstrates that nuclear fission technology has the abundance and attainability to provide centuries of safe power with minimal greenhouse gas generation. It also addresses the safety and disposal issues that have plagued the development of the nuclear power industry and scared planners and policy makers as well as the general public for more than two decades. No need for a background in nuclear science! This book guides engineers, scientists and energy professionals through a concise and easy-to-understand overview of key safety and sustainability issues affecting their work. Details the very latest information about today's safest and most energy-efficient reactor designs and reprocessing procedures. Brings to light the fears and hesitation of using nuclear energy and explains that technologies and procedures for safe production and processing are available today.

Author: Darryl Siemer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119657865
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
As the world’s energy sources continue to develop, with less reliance on traditional fossil fuels and more reliance on cleaner, more efficient, alternative energy sources, nuclear power continues to be a dividing point for many people. Some believe it is the answer to our energy problems for the future, while others warn of the risks. Written by a retired scientist who spent most of his career at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), this book aims to delve into the issues surrounding nuclear power and dispel its myths, while building an argument for why the United States should develop a nuclear power plan for the future. As a “whistleblower,” the author spent much of the last ten years of his career at the INL raising concerns about how its mission of serving as the Department of Energy’s lead laboratory in radioactive waste management was not being properly managed. While the United States continues to tread water on the issue of nuclear energy, the author believes that a nuclear “renaissance” is not only possible but is necessary for meeting the world’s growing demand for energy, especially clean energy. With fossil fuels slowly dying out and renewable energy sources not able to handle the demand for a continuously growing energy-consuming public, nuclear is an obvious solution. This book is a must-have for any engineer working in nuclear power, students hoping to go into that industry, and other engineers and scientists interested in the subject. This book is both “technical” and “political” because they’re equally important in determining what actually happens in institutions dealing with technical problems.

Author: Geoffrey Rothwell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317511778
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
This book is a unique introduction to the economic costs of nuclear power. It examines the future of the nuclear power industry and unpacks the complicated relationships between its technical, economic and political variables. It does so by modelling the costs, risks and uncertainties of one of the world’s most opaque industries using micro-econometrics, econometrics, and cost engineering. Economics of Nuclear Power examines the very important costs of externalities (storing of nuclear waste and the impact of a Chernobyl or Fukushima event) and compares those to the externalities of alternative carbon based energies (oil, coal, natural gas). With over 100 tables and figures this book details nuclear power production around the world - present and planned, providing a completely global focus. It also includes an overview of the past 70 years of international nuclear power developments. This book is essential reading for students, scholars and professionals interested in energy economics, nuclear engineering and energy policy.

Author: Jack Devanney
Publisher: Bookbaby
ISBN: 9781667854533
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This book focuses on the Gordian knot of our time, the closely coupled problems of electricity poverty for billions of humans, and global warming for all humans. The central thesis of the book is that nuclear power is not only the only solution, it is a highly desirable solution, cheaper, safer, less intrusive on nature than all the alternatives. Just about everybody, including most pro-nuclear folks, accept the fact that nuclear electricity is inherently expensive. Nuclear power is not inherently expensive. It is inherently cheap. This book argues that conventional nuclear power should cost less than three cents per kilowatt hour. But nuclear power is expensive, prohibitively so in most parts of the planet. The reason why nuclear power is so expensive is a regulatory regime in which the regulator is mandated to increase costs to the point where nuclear power is at best barely economic. The operative buzzword is ALARA, As Low As Reasonably Achievable. In such a system, any technological improvement which should lower cost simply provides regulators with more room to drive costs up. This same regime does an excellent job of stifling competition and technological progress by erecting layers of barriers to entry. The goal is not just to make nuclear electricity as cheap as coal or gas fired electricity. The goal must be to keep pushing the cost of nuclear power down and down, allowing us to replace fossil fuels almost everywhere. Imagine what we could do with 2 cents per kWh power in electrifying transportation and producing carbon neutral synfuels. This can only be done in a harshly competitive environment. We must force the providers of nuclear power to compete with everybody. If nuclear power is to be allowed to cleave the Gordian knot of electricity poverty and global warming, then we must completely change the way we regulate nuclear electricity. This book makes the case for this change and outlines what the replacement system needs to look like. ~

Author: Gerald Wendt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear energy
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309371422
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human health consequences. Large-scale installation of cleaner power generation has been generally hampered because greener technologies are more expensive than the technologies that currently produce most of our power. Rather than trade affordability and reliability for low emissions, is there a way to balance all three? The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies considers how to speed up innovations that would dramatically improve the performance and lower the cost of currently available technologies while also developing new advanced cleaner energy technologies. According to this report, there is an opportunity for the United States to continue to lead in the pursuit of increasingly clean, more efficient electricity through innovation in advanced technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies makes the case that America's advantagesâ€"world-class universities and national laboratories, a vibrant private sector, and innovative states, cities, and regions that are free to experiment with a variety of public policy approachesâ€"position the United States to create and lead a new clean energy revolution. This study focuses on five paths to accelerate the market adoption of increasing clean energy and efficiency technologies: (1) expanding the portfolio of cleaner energy technology options; (2) leveraging the advantages of energy efficiency; (3) facilitating the development of increasing clean technologies, including renewables, nuclear, and cleaner fossil; (4) improving the existing technologies, systems, and infrastructure; and (5) leveling the playing field for cleaner energy technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies is a call for leadership to transform the United States energy sector in order to both mitigate the risks of greenhouse gas and other pollutants and to spur future economic growth. This study's focus on science, technology, and economic policy makes it a valuable resource to guide support that produces innovation to meet energy challenges now and for the future.

Author: Behram N. Kursunogammalu
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461559618
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
The 1996 Conference focused on topics of environmentally attractive technologies for electricity production-renewables, natural gas, and nuclear energy. Recent technology developments were addressed which include creation of more efficient photovoltaic convert ers for electricity generation; the current and future role of natural gas in meeting global de mand for electric power generation; and the status of nuclear energy, its various applications, and the prospects for its future. The Conference agenda, in light of its global economic im pact, included comparative discussions of all the above alternative energy sources. The re gional choice of energy sources and their impact on the global economy and environment was reviewed. In addition to the above subjects, but strongly connected with the theme of global en ergy needs and security, the Conference program contained one session on new needs and di rections in higher education: new curricula to cover fundamental global issues on energy, resources, and environment.