In 1953, speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, President Dwight D. Eisenhower called on world leaders to move toward peaceful uses of nuclear technology. His address, known as the “Atoms for Peace” speech, sparked development of the nuclear power industry. Courtesy United Nations/DPI Photo.
Renaissance’s Future By Teresa Hansen, Associate Editor
Growing demand for electricity coupled with concern about global warming are promoting the idea of new nuclear power plant construction worldwide. Like other countries, the United States is looking at nuclear power as a solution to its growing need for energy. Early this summer, during a visit to the newly restarted Browns Ferry Unit 1 nuclear power plant, President Bush said there is no single solution to climate change, but there is no viable solution that does not include nuclear energy. Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations, also said recently that he has never seen a realistic solution to climate change that did not include nuclear energy.
Based on these statements and others like them from various world leaders, it appears that a nuclear renaissance is inevitable. However, to date no company has broken ground on a new nuclear power plant in the United States; for that matter, no company has even committed to breaking ground. Participants in the American Nuclear Society’s (ANS) 2007 Annual Meeting held in Boston this summer pointed out that a nuclear renaissance is far from a sure thing.
Art Stall, FP&L’s senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, co-hosted the ANS meeting’s opening plenary. He told attendees that the euphoria surrounding the nuclear renaissance has been dampened somewhat by the realities of the challenges involved in building new nuclear power plants. Stall and other speakers at the annual meeting spoke about the obstacles that
must be cleared before a new nuclear power plant will be built in the United States. These include issues such as supply chain constraints, radioactive waste disposal, public policy, public support and workforce shortage.
Supply chain challenges received much attention at this year’s ANS meeting. Carol Berrigan, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI’s) Director of Industry and Infrastructure, provided an overview of NEI’s Nuclear Manufacturer’s Study. In 1980, more than 500 companies in the United States carried N-stamps. Today that number is around 100, Berrigan said. In addition, during the first nuclear plant construction period, most suppliers to U.S. plants were domestic and competition was limited to companies within the United States. Today, competition and the supply chain are international.
Currently, Japan is the only country that can supply ultra-heavy forgings to the nuclear industry. There are two companies in the world that can provide heavy forgings and rigging (neither of which is in the United States). Few companies in the United States can provide large component castings and only one U.S. company can manufacture large nuclear-grade components, Berrigan said. This lack of U.S.-based manufacturing means that constructors/ owners of new U.S. nuclear power plants will be competing with nuclear plant constructors/owners around the world.
David Barry of the Shaw Group said not only will there be global competition for nuclear components, but that the nuclear
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