On Feb 15, 2022, the following is presented to the Şişecam executive team in PowerPoint form. It had more depth and a detailed venue embellished with graphics. Here, I am sharing the prose in narrative form.
Humanity has been searching for sustainable and low-cost energy solutions that mitigate the risk of global warming and climate change. Wind, solar, and even nuclear plants are renewable options and are suitable solutions to support objectives concerning climate change.
Energy is a necessity for humanity, and it, beyond question, will continue to stay that way forever. That is why its safety, supply, and sustainability are the most critical issues in all our daily lives and with governments. Today, fossil-based fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oils are the source of almost 84 % of global energy consumption (BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020).
Figure- World electricity generation sources in 2017
On the other hand, nuclear power plants account for about 11% of global electricity generation; OECD countries own roughly 80% of that installed capacity of the nuclear plants.
Today's nuclear plants use fission technology to produce heat and generate electricity. The fundamental principle of generating electricity at nuclear plants is similar to coal, geothermal, or natural gas plants, excluding how heat is generated. Fission technology used in today's nuclear plants is based on splitting atoms, which release energy in heat form and is used to produce steam, and then steam spins a turbine. The rotating turbine drives an electric generator to generate power.
The fission technology uses uranium as fuel, although the use of additional elements such as plutonium or thorium is also seen. The byproduct is nuclear waste (used atomic waste.)
Alternatively, nuclear fusion is a newly developing technology. It uses a nuclear reaction in which two or more atoms -lighter, though, join to create a heavier one. It uses hydrogen as fuel, and its byproduct is helium. It is a form of energy production that is copied from the sun. Fusion technology offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible energy source; however, it is still in the early stages of development and will sometimes take commercialization.
Nuclear plants, through fission, can produce almost one million times more energy than fossil fuel energy plants and chemical reactions such as burning coal, oil, or gas. When commercialized, fusion technology can make four times today's nuclear plants with fission technology.
Nuclear plants have a sizeable power-generating capacity and low operating costs, ideal for baseload generation. However, upfront capital costs are exhaustive and exhibit a financial risk to investors, given that the return on investment takes longer to redeem their costs.
One advantage of nuclear energy plants is that they do not emit greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, it is often seen as a substitute for fossil fuel energy generation and a solution for mitigating global warming risks.
The most considerable concern with nuclear plants using fission technology is the byproduct generation of radioactive wastes, spent (used) reactor fuel, and other radioactive wastes. These waste materials can remain radioactive and hazardous to human health and the environment for a long time. In addition, nuclear accidents and released radioactive waste threaten and negatively impact the environment and surrounding communities. Hence, this situation has made nuclear fission technologies contentious in today's societies.
Nevertheless, the pressure is on governments worldwide to replace fossil-fuel power generation with affordable and clean energy; it is one of 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With this, at least 80% of the world's electricity must be low-carbon by 2050. The goal aims to have a realistic chance of keeping or reversing global warming within two °C of pre-industrial levels.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) rather than large reactors may render soothing effects. Small modular reactors (SMRs) require a lower initial capital investment and much smaller land requirements than traditional reactors and come with greater scalability, enhanced safety, and security features. In addition, SMRs have reduced fuel requirements. Most SMRs may require less frequent refueling every 3 to 7 years, compared to between 1 and 2 years for conventional nuclear plants. Some SMRs are designed to operate for 30 years without refueling; atomic submarines are among them.
As a result, deploying advanced SMRs can help drive economic growth. Therefore, small modular reactors are gaining the attention of governments and power providers worldwide because of the benefits they deliver.
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are advanced and new nuclear reactors. Their power capacity could go up to 300 MW(e) per unit; it is a much smaller generating capacity than traditional nuclear power reactors. However, SMRs can produce a large amount of low-carbon electricity, and they are:
Small footprint– an SMR is small and requires smaller land than a conventional nuclear power reactor. Thus, SMRs can be selected in locations unsuitable for larger nuclear power plants.
SMRs can be premanufactured, shipped, and installed on-site; therefore, they are more affordable to build than large power reactors.
Modular – they are factory-assembled systems and components transported as prefabricated units to a location for installation.
Fueling is more manageable - at the end of the life cycle, an SMR reactor is replaced with a new one at the site. Then, the old one is sent to the factory to refuel.
Overall, SMRs offer cost savings, require shorter construction time, and can be deployed incrementally to meet increasing energy demand.
A subset of SMRs, microreactors, is designed to generate up to 10 MW(e) electrical power. Micro-reactors have smaller footprints than other SMRs and will be better suited for remote regions inaccessible to clean, reliable, and affordable energy. In addition, microreactors could serve as a backup power supply in emergencies or replace diesel power generators in rural and remote communities.
Compared to traditional nuclear reactors, proposed SMR designs are generally more straightforward. In addition, the safety rules concerning SMRs often rely more on passive systems, low power, and operating pressure, such as natural circulation, convection, gravity, and self-pressurization. As a result, no human intervention, external control, or force is needed to shut down the SMRs in emergencies. Therefore, SMRs come with increased safety margins that significantly lower the risk of unsafe releases of radioactivity to the environment and the surrounding communities in case of an accident.
Public and private institutions have tried to bring SMR technology to fruition within this decade. For example, Russia's Academic Lomonosov, the world's first floating nuclear power plant, began commercial operation in May 2020. It consists of two 35 MW(e) SMRs. Other SMRs are in the licensing or construction stage in Argentina, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States of America.
More than 70 commercial SMR designs being developed worldwide target varied outputs and applications, such as electricity, hybrid energy systems, heating, water desalinization, and steam for industrial applications. Though SMRs have a lower upfront capital cost per unit, their economic competitiveness must be proven in practice once deployed.
SMRs and nuclear power plants offer exceptional efficiency, economics, and flexibility. While nuclear reactors provide dispatchable energy sources – they can adjust output according to electricity demand; unlike solar and wind, their variable energy sources rely on the weather and time of day. Renewable energy plants and SMRs could be paired to increase the efficiency of a hybrid energy system. With given characteristics, SMRs are vital in transitioning to clean and sustainable energy use while helping countries address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Increasing global efforts seek to implement clean and innovative energy solutions, and the increased use of renewable energy, augmented with the introduction of SMRs, has the potential to fill such gaps. Yet, despite efforts to achieve the target of universal access to power, the need for energy in remote and rural regions is still prevalent.
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PS. My interest in SMRs sparked during two days of meeting in Turkey with Mr. Robert E. Prince, CEO of Gen4 Energy, a micro SMR company. He traveled to the Middle East to meet with some investors and accepted my invitation to stop by Turkey in 2011. Unfortunately, Gen4 Energy was closed in 2018 due to funding issues.
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