POWER May 2022 Intl - 40
COMMENTARY
How Does Nuclear Power
Fit into a Country's Energy
Policy?
Harry Andreades, PhD
eliable energy forms a fundamental building block of industrial
and modern society. When a country examines
its energy profile and determines its energy policy, it
considers three main pillars: energy equity, energy security,
and energy sustainability.
Energy equity encompasses the degree of access to energy
of a country's population and industry at a reasonable cost.
The major objective is to provide universal access to reliable
energy at the smallest fraction of people's income.
Energy security addresses the reliability and resiliency of
a country's energy supply. Energy independence tends to be
achieved either by resource rich countries or those with diversified
energy sources, as their supply is not beholden to a
single or limited source or supplier and can respond to supply
disruptions more effectively.
Energy sustainability reflects the use of energy in such a
manner that the current generation's needs are met while not
compromising future generations' needs. The objectives of energy
equity and security need to be accomplished in a sustainable
manner with limited impact to the environment, whether
in terms of resource use, local and global pollution, and effect
on the ecosystem.
Balancing Energy Equity, Security, and
Sustainability
Ideally, maximizing all three of these pillars is the ultimate
goal. In practice, however, these categories tend to be in tension
with each other. For example, abundant domestic coal
resources increase energy equity and security, but at a significant
cost to sustainability. Replacing coal with natural gas
improves sustainability because it is less polluting, but risks
reducing energy security, as it might have to be imported from
abroad. Replacing both coal and natural gas with renewable
energy sources potentially improves sustainability but reduces
energy equity significantly because the cost of intermittency
of resources such as wind and solar is very high. This is due
to the significant need for backup generation and storage during
time when the sun is down or the wind is not blowing.
Cost will also be significantly impacted by the transmission
infrastructure to transmit the power from remote areas to consumers
and the significant overbuild to meet peak capacities.
When studying the energy trilemma of equity, security,
and sustainability from this lens, nuclear power co-optimizes
all three factors simultaneously. It is important to mention
upfront that it is not, however, an appropriate or necessary
source in all cases. For example, Norway, Paraguay, and Brazil
are resource-rich countries that get most of their electric
power sustainably from hydropower. For countries that are not
sustainably resource-rich, however, nuclear power can be an
attractive proposition and alternative.
40
R
Why Nuclear Power Can Be a Good Option
In terms of equity, nuclear power has proven to be a reliable
and scalable source at a reasonable cost. Countries or regions
that have adopted it at scale, such as France, Sweden,
or Ontario, have some of the cheapest and cleanest electricity.
The upfront investment and adoption times can indeed
be significant and cannot always be absorbed by interested
countries without a major concentrated effort. However, the
always-on nature and low generating costs of nuclear power
result in an attractive lifecycle economic profile. At the same
time, nuclear power provides high-quality employment and
significant ancillary local and countrywide economic benefits
if supply localization is prioritized.
Nuclear power also improves energy security due to its
low fuel use. A gram of uranium, the dominant fuel for nuclear
reactors, can produce as much energy as a ton of coal or
oil. Uranium is also cheaply and abundantly available. Nuclear
power also has long fuel cycles, which are not susceptible to
immediate or medium-term supply disruptions, such as gas
pipeline ruptures, geopolitical instability, extreme temperature
swings, or cloud cover.
Nuclear power is also a sustainable source of power as
it emits no pollutants during operation, has low land use,
has low resource use due to its high energy density, and accounts
for all its waste streams. Although nuclear waste is
considered a serious argument against the adoption of nuclear
power, due to its radiotoxicity and longevity, technical
solutions such as recycling and reprocessing, deep geological
disposal, or borehole disposal are available.
When examining a country's energy policy through the
prism of the energy trilemma, nuclear power can be considered
a viable part of the solution set. Although it does present
questions in terms of local acceptance, safety, and non-proliferation,
on balance it offers significant benefits. Nuclear technology
importing countries can also form serious diplomatic,
geopolitical, economic, and scientific ties with their provider
countries. This is due to the fact that a nuclear program is a
century-long endeavor, from initial surveying, program socialization,
human resource and institutional development, construction,
operation, to decommissioning. It therefore needs
to be part of a mature, well-informed, and transparent debate
among all stakeholders. ■
-Harry Andreades, PhD is an advanced nuclear energy
consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, examining technical,
commercialization, and business development
aspects of all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle.
This article was prepared by the author in his
personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed
in this article are those of the author and
do not necessarily reflect the official policy,
opinion, or position of his employer.
www.powermag.com
POWER | May 2022
http://www.powermag.com
POWER May 2022 Intl
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