Office of

Nuclear Energy

U.S. Nuclear Energy Program

March 30, 2017

NGA Nuclear Workshop

Bradley Williams

Senior Advisor, Office of Nuclear Energy

U.S. Department of Energy

Trends in Nuclear

• Recognition of importance of nuclear – today and in the future

• Concern about financial viability of some currently operating plants, yet benefits from keeping them running• Generation II and III reactors

• Increased interest in nuclear in some domestic and international markets• Generation III+• SMR technology

• Innovators and utilities looking at advanced “Generation IV” nuclear as a way to move nuclear beyond electricity

2

Global Nuclear Energy Landscape

• 450 operating reactors in 30 countries

• 11% of global electricity generated

• 60 reactors are currently under construction in 15 countries (20 in China)

• Over 300 reactors proposed in 35 countries, worth over $1 trillion

• $1 billion in U.S. exports = 5-10, 000 Jobs3

ADVANCED REACTORS

LWR LIFE EXTENSION (80 yrs)

SMALL MODULAR REACTORS

Life extension to 80 yrs (younger and larger units)

The partitioning between GEN III+, SMRs, and GEN

IV depends on the availability of the technologies

and supply-chain considerations

Notional Nuclear Energy Deployment Scenario

USED FUEL STORAGE GEOLOGIC REPOSITORY

Enabling Multiple Nuclear Energy Pathways

ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN ENABLING CAPABILITIES

4

Proposed Actions from the Summit on Improving the Economics of America’s Nuclear Power Plants

• Policy should be technology neutral• Focus on the end goal (i.e., reduced carbon emissions) rather than advancing a particular technology• Level the Playing Field – treat all clean technologies equally

• Outreach and education

• Near-term action by FERC on Price Formation

• Valuation needs to be considered by FERC / Markets• Zero-carbon, Reliability, Resiliency, Affordability, Fuel Diversity, Sustainability, Security, Flexibility, etc.

• Clean Energy Standards

• Reduce Operating Costs• Delivering the Nuclear Promise• LWR Working Group – technical advances• Provide additional energy services (i.e., process heat applications)

• Clean Power Plan Implementation• Mass-based with new source complement

• Power Purchase Agreements

• Legislation• Carbon Price, Production Tax Credit

• Re-regulate5

Summit Report & Cost Gap Analysis

available at https://gain.inl.gov

Nuclear Energy University Programs

6

Back-Up Slides

7

Accident Tolerant Fuel

• Consistent with Congressional direction, the Department’s goal is to insert a lead fuel rod or a fuel assembly in a commercial reactor by 2022.

• Currently in the feasibility and assessment phase and exploring various accident tolerant fuel concepts.

• In FY 2016, the Department selected accident tolerant fuel concepts to be pursued in the development and qualification phase.

• The Department continues to work closely with industry, universities, and our international partners on accident tolerant fuel development. 8

Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL): DOE Modeling and Simulation Hub

• Developing a “virtual reactor” to simulate reactor behavior with the ultimate goal of using this tool to improve the safety and economics of reactor operations to enable power production increases and life extension.

• Renewed for a second 5-year phase in FY15 and is increasing membership to include additional reactor technology vendors and electric utilities.

9

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program

• Develop fundamental scientific basis to enable continued long-term safe operation of existing LWRs (beyond 60 years):• Improve reliability -- Sustain safety• Preserve carbon-free generation -- Support long-term economic viability

• Focus areas:• Materials Aging and Degradation• Advanced Instrumentation and Controls• Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization• Systems Analysis and Emerging Issues (includes research to support post-Fukushima

lessons learned)

• Accomplishments:• Completed the development of a detailed database on irradiated concrete degradation.

This database, together with mechanistic modeling, will support the development of a predictive model for concrete degradation.

• Released the first Beta version of the new RELAP-7 code. RELAP-7 is a modern, updated thermal-hydraulics reactor plant simulation code.

• The Arizona Public Service Company received a Nuclear Energy Institute Top Industry Practice (TIP) award for an advanced outage control center automation pilot plant project implemented in conjunction with the Light Water Reactor Sustainability program. 10

Federal Loan Guarantees Underpin New Nuclear Build

• The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the Department of Energy to issue loan guarantees for projects that avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gases and employ new or significantly-improved technologies as compared to technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued.

• In Georgia, two AP1000s are being built with $8.3 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy.

Construction of Vogtle Unit 3, January 2014 ©Georgia Power Company

• DOE announced an additional $12.5 billion solicitation for loan guarantees for Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects in December 2014 --focuses on four key areas:

‒ Advanced nuclear reactors‒ Small modular reactors‒ Uprates and upgrades at existing facilities‒ Front-end nuclear projects, such as

uranium, conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication

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Small Modular Reactors

NuScale

• Design Certification Application (DCA) submitted to the NRC in January 2017

• NRC accepted and docketed March 2017

• DCA review and approval within 40 months

NuScale/UAMPS Siting

• Site use agreement for a site on the INL

• Preferred site identified in August 2016

TVA Siting

• Submitted Early Site Permit Application to NRC

• Review commenced January 2017, completed in approximately 30 months 12

Vision and Strategy for Advanced Reactors

VISION

By 2050, advanced reactors will provide a significant and growing component of the nuclear energy mix both domestically and globally, due to their advantages in terms of improved safety, cost,

performance, sustainability, and reduced proliferation risks.

GOAL

By the early 2030s, at least two non-light water advanced reactor concepts have reached technical maturity, demonstrated safety and economic benefits, and completed licensing reviews by the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sufficient to allow construction to go forward.

13

Fuel Cycle Research and Development

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Enrichment &

Fuel

Fabrication

Reactors Recycle Interim

Storage

Final

Disposal

Light Water

Reactors

Other Advanced

Techniques

Conventional

MiningConventional LWR

Fuel Fabrication

LLW DisposalAdvanced Reactor

Fuel

Geologic

Repository

Interim

StorageSeawater

ExtractionLWR Fuel with

Improved Accident

Tolerance

Advanced Reactor

Recycle

ProductWaste

Forms

LWR Recycle

Uranium

Supply

Advanced

Reactors

Nuclear Beyond Electricity

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NOW

FUTURE

e-

Flexible Generators Advanced Processes Revolutionary Design

Industrial

Applications

Baseload Electricity Generation

SMRs

Large

LWRs

Gen IVHydrogen

Production

Desalination

Chemical

Processes

Flexible

Electricity

Generation

Nuclear Science User Facilities and Enabling Capabilities

Provides the research community a means to conduct cutting-edge nuclear energy R&D by providing access to unique irradiation and post-irradiation examination capabilities,

located at Idaho National Laboratory and various partner facilities.

Advanced Test Reactor

Hot Fuel Examination Facility

Transient Reactor Test Facility

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Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN)

17

https://gain.inl.gov

TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEST BEDS MAY BE DEFINED FOR ADDRESSING THE “TWO VALLEYS OF DEATH”

3 Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)

10

100

1000

Inve

stm

ent L

evel

s ($

M)

R&D TEST BED Rapid and cost-effective retirement of

technical risk for innovative

technologies.

DEMO PLATFORM Minimize the difference between 1st

of a kind and nth of a kind and reduce

the cost uncertainty for commercial

units.

9 1 3 5 8 2 7 4 6

Proof-of-Concept Proof-of-Performance Proof-of-Operations

! for 1st of a kind

Phase I Phase II Phase III

A tailored approach to support technologies of varying TRLs

Removing barriers nuclear energy

deployment