Fission Energy vs. Fossil Fuel

Some Salient Background Facts
Re: Fission Energy vs. Fossil Fuel
vs. Alternative Non-CO2 Energy Sources


General Information

1. Today, electricity in the US is produced from the following sources:
· 20% fission energy
· 50% burning coal (fossil fuel)
· 20% burning natural gas (fossil fuel)
· 6.5% hydroelectric
· 0.5% wind and solar power
· 3% burning oil (fossil fuel)

2. Except for wind-driven turbines, solar electricity provided by photovoltaic cells and hydroelectric dams, electricity is generated by creating heat, turning water to steam, which drives giant, magnetized turbines which generate electricity.

3. In the case of a fission reactor, uranium pellets (typically including the radioactive isotope U-235 enriched to a concentration of 3-5%), encased in fuel rods, undergo a controlled chain reaction in the core, releasing energy in the form of heat, which turns pressurized water into pressurized steam, and the steam drives the turbines to generate electricity.

4. All fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide when burned to create heat; the fission reaction does not.

Fission Energy

1. Today, there are 103 active nuclear reactor power plants in the US – supplying 20% of the nation’s electricity. In addition, there are 337 working reactors producing electricity in 30 countries outside the US. France obtains 78% of its electricity from fission power plants (59). The other leading nuclear powered electricity generating countries are: Japan (55); Russia (31); UK (23); South Korea(20); Canada (18); Ukraine (15); India (15); and China (10).

2. Worldwide, an additional 27 new fission power plants are under construction, another 38 are in the planning stage and another 115 are proposed. Of these plants, it is notable that India proposes 24 new reactor plants, China proposes 19 and South Africa 24.

3. Today, before construction of a nuclear power plant can even begin in the US, three certifications are required from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC): a site permit; an approved reactor design; and a construction/operating license. Such an application can involve up to 30,000 pages of drawings, calculations, environmental studies, seismology studies, etc.; the review process alone consumes approximately three years.

4. Safer, less complicated, cheaper designs for fission energy power plants are evolving from Westinghouse, GE, the French-German company Areva, and others. The NRC should approve/standardize 6-10 designs for 1000 Mwe and/or 1500 Mwe (“base load”) output – with the goal of reducing the regulatory process time to 1 year (for previously certified designs); construction time to 5 years and cost to no more than $2-3 Billion, respectively.

5. The main safety features of most reactors are inherent - negative temperature coefficient and negative void coefficient. The first means that beyond an optimal level, as the temperature increases the efficiency of the reaction decreases (this in fact is used to control power levels in some new designs). The second means that if any steam has formed in the cooling water there is a decrease in moderating effect so that fewer neutrons are able to cause fission and the reaction slows down automatically.

6. 18-27 new permits for fission powered electric utility plants are now pending before the NRC – most are near existing reactor sites. If the foregoing goals were adopted (i.e., legislated by Congress), at least 25 new fission power plants should be operating by 2020. An additional 50 new plants should be brought online by 2030 and another 75 new fission reactor plants by 2040. Combined with the current 100+ fission power plants (refurbished and re-licensed), the country realistically could anticipate fission energy providing 50% of its electrical power needs by the year 2040.

7. Between global warming, largely caused by burning fossil fuels, and US dependence on unstable/unfriendly foreign oil supplies (e.g., Mid-East and Venezuela), the economics of fission energy can no longer be treated as an obstacle. If necessary, construction must be subsidized by the federal government – in particular, the construction of the critically needed spent - fuel reprocessing and recycling plants for recovering fission fuel.

Fossil Fuel

1. Today, the US produces carbon dioxide emissions that are 50% greater than that of any other country; these emissions are a major contributor to global warming. In 2002, the US, China, Russia,Japan, India and Germany emitted some 3.9 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon emissions from these countries have continued to rise each year since 2002.

2. If the world is to avoid potentially devastating climate changes, it must stop the current upward trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions within the next 10-20 years.

Alternative Non-Carbon Dioxide Energy

1. Wind, solar and hydrogen fuel cell technologies are not practical/not developed/not proven for large-scale production of electricity in the near-term, i.e., in the next 10-20 years.

2. For example, a recent proposal to build 40 wind-turbine generators off Long Island’s south shore in a grid covering 8 miles, each windmill being 440 feet high (the Washington monument is 550 feet) would produce only enough electricity for 44,000 homes - at a proposed construction cost of $400 Million. By contrast, a 1,000 Mwe fission power reactor produces electric power for 1 million homes at a construction cost of $2-3 Billion.

3. For another example, today, ethanol accounts for 5% of automobile fuel in the US, and yet, to achieve this meager reduction in gasoline usage, the country is already diverting some 25% of its current corn production away from animal and human food consumption. Considering the amount of fossil fuel burned in planting, cultivating, harvesting, transporting and processing the corn into ethanol, there is little gain, if any, to be realized in the reduction of carbon emissions. Much the same is true for soybean, switch grass or other crop conversions to ethanol.