Controversies of the Current Energy Crisis with regards to Nuclear Energy; the Economics of

Nuclear Energy

Scientific Coordinator: Prof. Dr. ZAHARIA | Graduate: ILIUT Iulia-Valentina

Controversies of the Current Energy Crisis with regards to Nuclear Energy; the Economics of

Nuclear EnergyScientific Coordinator: Prof. Dr. ZAHARIA | Graduate: ILIUT Iulia-Valentina

Controversies of the Current Energy Crisis with regards to Nuclear Energy; the Economics of

Nuclear Energy

Scientific Coordinator: Prof. Dr. ZAHARIA Rodica

Graduate: ILIUT Iulia-Valentina

Agenda• Objectives of the research paper• Research Methods and Sources• The Global Energy Crisis – Future Energy Predictions• Predicting nuclear energy patterns• The Economics of Nuclear Energy• Safety versus implicit costs• The waste problem• Sweden – the beginning of the nuclear renaissance in Europe• Q&A

Objectives of the research paper“Tomorrow is today” – Martin Luther King

I Placement of nuclear energy in future energy patterns

II Weaknesses and strengths

III Contributions to the Balance of Payments

IV Determining its sustainability

IV The future of nuclear energy

Global Energy Crisis

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The most strigent issue is fossil fuel consumption and resource exhaustion.

-Consumption patterns are predicting to grow in a faster pace

- Cooperation of major energy producing and major energy consuming states is vital

- There can be no guarantee that they will meet the level of demand projected for the next 20 – 25 years

Topic 3

Global Energy Crisis – Future Energy Predictions

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Scenario A – Increases in Productivity and Wealth

Scenario B – The Moderate Scenario

Scenario C – Ambitious policy measures

Taking into account GDP (PPP), the history, technological change and the environment

Predicting nuclear energy patternsNuclear energy features

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-lack of carbon emissions

-the relatively uniform availability of fuel resources worldwide

- a very high level of governmental involvement and public concern

- depending on uranium, not concentrated in a few places like fossil resources

The Economics of Nuclear Energy

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Money

Time

Design and construction

Production costs (O&M plus fuel)

Major refurbishment

Decomissioning

Illustrative life cycle cash flow for a nuclear power plant

-High capital investment costs

-Long planning horizons and operational life

-Low fuel and operating maintenance

- Major refurbishment and significant costs in waste disposal

- Internalized some costs that are mainly viewed as external for other sources of energy

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Safety vs. Implicit Costs – the optimal solution

- competitive advantage in times of fluctuating fossil fuel prices

-competition is highly favorable -> higher energy production per unit and therefore higher efficiency

-vulnerability to short-term market conditions- strong policies and regulatory measures -> difficulties for the operator to increase profitability

-uncertainties associated with the costs of waste disposal and decommissioning

Breakdown of representative generation costs

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The waste problem a burden for the competitive advantage

.Industrial wasteApprox. 1000 million cubic meters

Toxic industrial waste approx. 10 million cubic meters

Radioactive waste 50000 cubic mmeters

High activity radioactive waste 500 cubic meters

Waste generation comparison – yearly production of waste in the European Union

- disposal is via recycling as fuel, geological sequestration or via dilution.

- Burying concentrated wastes is problematic because of the uncontrollability of geological events or undetected vulnerabilities

- the public acceptance and research solution (Sweden)

- the nuclear reprocessing solution (France, Japan)

Topic 1 Topic 3 Topic 4 Topic 6Topic 5Topic 2

Sweden – the beginning of the nuclear renaissance in Europe

•the Swedish government announced plans to overturn a near 30-year ban on atomic plants•Climate change and energetic independence (in this case from Norway) have lead to new projects for nuclear energy•High technology and efforts in waste disposal technologies have lead to increase of public approval

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Conclusions• The future of nuclear energy depends on technology

advances and a clear cost – safety delimitation• The imperative of greenhouse reductions and of

energetic stability have included nuclear energy between the most important alternative for the short- and midterm

• In the long term, however, its expansion will depend on technology advances and the energy pattern

Q&A

Thank you for your attention!!