'Lion' has the nucleus reached itself?

America is making a breakthrough in nuclear power policy. Will the move of an affordable lion lion help stir up the world nuclear community after 20 years, when rising and falling, from the Chernobyl incident?

In the race to enter the White House which was in the final, which presidential candidate, Republican or Democratic, also showed concern about Nuclear Power. John McCain proposed building 45 new reactors by 2030. The rival, Barack Obama, could not be silent, also spoke about further development of nuclear nuclear energy, but, on the other hand, also note the concerns about radioactive waste and different views of the selected Yucca (Nevada) state of burial.

The current President George Bush, a few years ago, launched new and exciting policies on this energy source. Therefore, the American press, including SPIEGEL ONLINE, asked: is America's nuclear energy resurrected with the revival of the world nuclear power industry?

American power: three-legged tripod

Propeller of wind power plant.(Photo: Whitehouse)

Since the Chernobyl disaster, the global nuclear power industry has been wobbly, falling, and after 10 to 15 years, it has gradually recovered.

America also does not stand outside that spiral. Moreover, being the nuclear superpower, standing at the forefront of nuclear nuclear weapons potential and nuclear power, US ups and downs have far-reaching impacts on nuclear performance. of many countries.

Therefore, observers around the world could not stop buzzing when exactly twenty years after the Chernobyl incident (1986-2006), the United States suddenly had a breakthrough in energy policy, especially about energy. atomic volume, with a letter from the President sent to the people on February 20, 2006 and a ' statement ' on the national energy development strategy called 'Advanced Energy Initiative' (AEI - Advanced Energy Initiative ).

In particular, US President George W. Bush emphasized: ' We will invest more in non-emissions coal-fired power plants (zero-emission), wind and solar technology, and nuclear power. full, clean '.

The orientation in the new US energy development strategy stems from the overarching and long-term goal of ensuring national energy security. That orientation is based on a comprehensive analysis of a wide range of factors: First, the label risks of global climate change due to ' carbon dioxide ' pollution. Secondly, the price of natural gas is increasing. Third, serious unrest in the rich countries and regions of oil and gas. Fourth, the demand for domestic electricity is growing strongly.

With the energy strategy of the 'Advanced Energy Initiative', it can be seen that America's power source has been redesigned, based on the basic structure of a three-legged tripod: one is a thermo-electric with coal, one leg is electricity using sunlight and wind, and the third is electricity using fission nuclear fuel.

"Coal leg" and "sunny and windy legs"!

Coal power, though the oldest form of electricity, remains a key source of energy in the United States. The skewed toward coal power is understandable, since the US accounts for more than a quarter of the world's coal reserves and, in fact, coal has been playing the ' war horse ' of the industry. power this country with over half of the total national output.

The process of converting solar energy into electricity.
(Photo: Jcwinnie.biz)

Because coal-fired thermal power is at the center of human concern for the 'greenhouse' effect on climate change, the US government's message is deeply embedded in cleaning technology. For coal-fired power plants in operation, the government will invest funds in innovative technologies that meet the requirements of a clean environment, lowering costs. And for them new construction plants, will invest in developing new, more efficient cleaning technologies.

America's interest in new energy - solar and wind power - is also evident. Because solar energy is so abundant, it is widely distributed and completely clean. And the wind energy technology is the ' fad ' technology, which is growing at a rapid rate in the world today.

The new policy on energy development of the United States in relation to the above mentioned two legs is strongly expressed in action. Even in the 2007 budget, the US government spent $ 281 million on coal research programs; following a $ 2 billion investment four years earlier. In order to enforce the promise of solar energy, in 2007, the US government proposed an investment of US $ 148 million, an increase of 65 million compared to 2006. As for wind power, in 2005 this industry raised capacity. Add 2,300 MW at a cost of 3 billion USD, spread over 22 states.

What about "atomic legs"?

In fact, for a long time, in the power structure of the United States, nuclear power has stood at number two, just behind coal power. Specifically, according to statistics in 2000, the power structure in this country is as follows: coal power accounts for 52%, nuclear power accounts for 20%, followed by 16% electricity and 7% hydroelectricity.

Nuclear power plant.
(Photo: Opposingviews.com)

And on the world level, with 103 reactors with a total capacity of 101,000 MW, located in 65 locations in 31 states, since the US nuclear power has occupied the first place worldwide.

It was only after 1974, especially after the Chernobyl incident, because reactor safety regulations in the United States were increasingly improved, the economics of nuclear power plants, therefore, were reduced compared to electricity sources. Other features, so no new factories were built. Instead, because the United States has abundant natural gas resources, 90% of the power plants under construction are electrothermal.

However, along with the resurgence of nuclear power in many countries around the world, the US nuclear power plant has moved again in the last years of the last century. Although by the time of 1990, the utilization rate of operating nuclear power plants decreased to below 65% but then gradually increased and in 2000 reached the highest record of 89.6%. . On the other hand, the US government has amended licensing rules so that 25-year-old factories can extend their shelf life by 40 years, adding 20 years to the previous regulation.

Thanks to the increased operating efficiency and lifetime of the reactor, the cost of generating power for nuclear power plants in 1999 was 1.83 cents / kWh, cheaper than coal electricity by 2.07 cents / kWh. .

In that sense, in May 2001, President G. Bush formally introduced the ' National Energy Policy ', which emphasized the expansion of nuclear power use as a very important factor. and needed. Nuclear power plants (NPP) appear on design documents.

And finally, with the President's message on February 20, 2006, and the declaration of ' Advanced Energy Initiative ', ' safe and clean nuclear energy ' was officially confirmed as one of three legs. strong footing of the United States power industry.

This is the first time in decades that nuclear energy has returned and has become a highlight in America's key energy resources list.

In particular, in its overall strategy, the US Government offers strong measures to address the legitimate concerns of mankind about possible nuclear disasters on earth when a series of houses NPP grows, not only in advanced industrial countries but also in developing countries.

Removing an atomic worry?

Everyone knows the reactors, the heart of NPPs, have an important task of creating electricity, but also there produce all kinds of radioactive substances dangerous to human health. How to safely store and store radioactive waste, minimize the risk to human health, not only for now but also for the future of hundreds, thousands of years, especially In the first few hundred years, when the radioactivity in waste is still high? This is a major concern of the nuclear power technology of mankind in the nuclear age.

The amount of waste accumulated so far has not been too large, can be stored in private warehouses near nuclear plants, but the problem becomes hot in the next few decades or a century or two. The burial of high radioactive waste in selected and specially built locations in the earth has been in place for decades.

Coal power plant.(Photo: Scienceprogress.org)

The US government is strongly committed to building projects in the Yucca mountains in Nevada mountains. But other nuclear powers such as France, Britain and Japan are still confused, not yet officially appointed burial sites. Because such burial depots must store a large amount of waste, with very high levels of radioactivity, for a very long time, waiting for radioactive material to decay to the extent that it can be removed for re-processing or disposal. environment.

Facing such a difficult situation, along with the ' Advanced Energy Initiative ', the White House also proposed a cooperative program called "Global Nuclear Energy Partnership ", abbreviated GNEP (Global Nuclear). Energy Partnership.

Specifically, the US Government proposed the establishment of an international consortium, including leading nuclear nations such as the US, Russia, Britain, and France ., taking on the task of supplying nuclear fuel to other countries and making Used fuel management service. On the other hand, propose a new technology for re-processing, in particular: for a short time, completely separate all new renewable fuels (Uranium, Plutonium and Actinium isotopes) for reuse. With such a shortened fuel cycle and most of the powerful radioactive materials have been separated from the waste, the volume and radioactivity of the waste to be buried will significantly reduce and at the same time the process of waste disposal. also shortened.

So, GNEP achieved many goals simultaneously. First of all, GNEP is able to remove the concern of mankind on nuclear radiation safety (specifically reducing the amount of radioactive waste that requires long-term preservation, reducing concerns about waste burial sites). GNEP with the participation of many countries will ensure a higher level of global nuclear security (the concessions will limit the number of countries with access to fuel for nuclear weapons, which reduces the risk of spreading nuclear weapons. multiply). And of course, GNEP will also boost the trend of using nuclear energy for peace on earth.

Therefore, many countries have enthusiastically embraced the birth of GNEP. After only 2 years GNEP has 25 official member countries, 17 observers. In early October 2008, another 25 countries were invited to participate. Vietnam has also been invited to join the " Global GNEP Nuclear Energy Partner ".

Clearly, the US nuclear power industry is really reviving. And the rise of this nuclear lion has stirred up the resurgence of the global nuclear industry, awakened, cheered and facilitated other countries; including developing countries, entered the path of nuclear power development.