Nuclear power has been under fire for several perfectly justifiable reasons. The bottom line of nuclear power is that the waste it produces is a hazard. Nuclear power was expected to grow by 13% according to The Energy Information Administration.Unfortunately, this growth never came and our energy needs were covered by coal and other sources. Throughout this article, we will be reviewing the political opinions from Congress and the current energy secretary Rick Perry. We will also be covering current power plants status, basics of nuclear energy, and different types of reactors. Finally, we will consider the economics.

Nuclear Power Politics

Rick Perry is pushing for the government to change both regulations and pricing behind nuclear and coal power plants in hopes of boosting the industry. Nuclear power has fallen into a decline that’s an unfortunate repeat of the boom and drop in 1975 to 1985. There’s been an expansion in federal financing made for two power plants located in Georgia. Perry is calling on the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) to make these changes. His proposal is any power plant that has enough source material to last 90 days would receive a fair rate of return. It could potentially drive the price of electricity higher for consumers. This proposal would include coal power plants, nuclear power plants, run-of-the-river, and theoretically natural gas due to its ability to receive fuel via a pipeline regional or independent operations. This Tuesday operation in the Idaho testing facility, shut down in 1994, has been reinstated under the watch of The US Department of Energy. This interest from the government could spurn the industry onward.

The Status of Power Plants and Basics of Nuclear Energy

Power plants throughout the country have been aging and need heavy repairs. There’s been a shutdown of 6 reactors at five different plants and there’s more to come as these nuclear power plants decompose.The basics of nuclear energy are the fission or separation of atoms that can create a large amount of thermal energy from inside a reactor. This thermal energy can be used to heat water and that steam spins turbines later in the system. The separation and element itself can be volatile and you run the risk of a meltdown should a natural disaster occur in the area. There are many different types of reactors that vary in how they handle the different variables of creating nuclear energy. Some such variables include coolant types, moderators, the chemical composition, and enrichment level of the fuel. The moderators slow down the neutrons produced from fission and can keep them from acting on Uranium-235. To elaborate, when a large molecule composed of more than one nucleus is split apart it breaks down into 2 to 4 different neutrons that cause a chain reaction that breaks down other molecules in an area. The chemical composition and enrichment of the material affects the speed of the chain reaction overall.

Types of Power Plants

Some example of different power plants is fast breeder reactors, graphite moderated reactors, heavy water reactors, and light water reactors. Light water reactor comes in two different types known as boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors. Light water reactors are the only reactors mentioned here that do not produce petroleum. In boiling water reactors, the steam is produced inside the reactor and goes directly to the turbines, while pressurized water reactors produce stream outside the reactor in a heat transfer loop. These are both used to produce electrify but the PWR is used on nuclear-powered ships. The heavy water reactor can use metal as the fuel along with uranium dioxide. HWRs have been used in Canada and Savannah River site reactors. Graphite moderated reactors can have either gas or water as a coolant. Water cooled graphite moderated reactors have been used in the Soviet Union. The gas can be carbon dioxide or helium and the fuel type of these pants can be uranium dicarbide or uranium metal. Gas cooled graphite moderated reactors have been used in Britain and France. Fast breeder reactors or FBR use molten sodium or liquid sodium as a type of coolant and don't require a moderator. The fuel type is typically plutonium dioxide and uranium dioxide in different mixtures. FBRs are meant to make more fissile material then they use. New technology has been underway to make nuclear power plants more compact and safer with different types of coolants.

Overall Economics

Nuclear power plants have a reputation for being costly to construct and with good reason. According to the Bulletin, South Carolina started construction on two nuclear power plants and later abandoned them after pouring 9 billion dollars into the project. They fell behind schedule and the construction cost rose to $21 billion over time. This project caused the bankruptcy of its vendor Westinghouse. The dual nuclear plants in Georgia face the same problems and the costs have risen to $28 billion.Consumers have begun relying on self-produced energy thus reducing the profit being made for electric companies such as coal and nuclear. While there has been a backlash from coal companies about the use of batteries for solar energy, there is little they can do to prevent new products coming onto the market. The cost of maintenance for nuclear power plants is also high and does not guarantee the plants continued operation. Repairing older generation nuclear plants is a slow operation as they do not meet government standards. According to LA Times, the Watts Bar nuclear power plant has been listed as under construction for 44 years after launching in 1972. It was 60% complete at the time it was suspended in 1985, meaning it was fitted with technology meeting regulations back then. The cost of bringing the slumbering giant up to commission and the initial construction cost an estimated $6.1 billion. This problem is sure to come up repeatedly if companies decide to reinstate older nuclear power plants.

To conclude, while nuclear energy is carbon emission free the costs on both consumers and investors just do not seem to be worth it. Another thing to consider is the waste and the risk of a meltdown without newer technology. We are at a crossroad if we invest in nuclear energy. We lose economically and if we don't experiment with new technology in this field, this energy course may never grow in the United States.

Article sources:

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Shutdown

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-f

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/us-rest...

Rick Perry's proposal and Political asspects

https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-nuclear-power-ha...

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/35306...

South Carolina Shut Down and Economics of that

https://thebulletin.org/dozen-reasons-economic-fai...

Nuclear Power Technology

https://ieer.org/resource/classroom/types-of-nucle...

http://www.passmyexams.co.uk/GCSE/physics/chain-re...