Nuclear Power: Considerations and Challenges · Nuclear Power: Considerations and Challenges Ami Rastas Consultant 2nd REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENERGY AND NUCLEAR POWER IN AFRICA CAPE

Nuclear Power: Considerations and Challenges

Ami RastasConsultant

2nd REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENERGY AND NUCLEAR POWER IN AFRICA

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA30 May – 1 June 2011

Cape Town 30 May 2011 1

Challenges related to:• Management of planning and implementation• Human resources• Legislation and international commitments• Regulatory framework• Energy system and grid size• Site• Safety• Fuel cycle and waste management• National participation• Economy• Financing• Stakeholder involvement

Contents


Milestone approach

• In order to assist Member States to implement the nuclear program in a structured way, the IAEA has developed a milestone approach consisting of three phases which end to the following milestones: Milestone 1: Ready to make a knowledgeable commitment to a nuclear

programme; Milestone 2: Ready to invite bids for the first nuclear power plant; Milestone 3: Ready to commission and operate the first nuclear power plant.

• Conditions have been defined for 19 issues at each milestone. • The IAEA has developed also a methodology for the evaluation of

the status of national nuclear infrastructure development based on the milestone approach.

Management (1/2)


• The roles and responsibilities of involved organizations will change over time.

• In the early phases of the program, the dedicated Nuclear Energy Program Implementation Organization (NEPIO) should be established to manage the national nuclear power program.

• Later, an Owner/Operator organization should be designated and assume responsibility for the development and implementation of the first nuclear power plant.

• It can be a challenge to transfer responsibilities smoothly from the NEPIO to the Owner/Operator organization.

Management (2/2)


• The knowledge and skills necessary to purchase, construct, licence, operate, maintain and comply with regulations of a nuclear power plant are spread across most scientific and engineering disciplines.

• Specific expertise in nuclear physics and nuclear materials science for reactor operation as well as fuel cycle and waste management is crucial and requires several years of specialized training.

Human Resources (1/3)


• The specialized training can be obtained from the vendors and suppliers of the nuclear systems and components.

• However, it is desirable for a nation to develop its own educational and training capabilities to better assure the long term availability of the crucial human resource and to provide working opportunities for its citizens.



• Lack of human resources has been a challenge also in countries extending their existing nuclear programs.

• Also the nuclear education and research arrangements have been reduced in some countries due to the long pause in nuclear construction.



• The legislation needs to be in place in the early phase of a nuclear program development.

• The nuclear legislation should be consistent with national legal and political traditions, institutions, economic circumstances, level of technological development and cultural values.

Legislation and International Commitments (1/2)


• Legislation should implement any international instruments to which the government is a party.

• Those instruments cover the areas like nuclear safety, security, safeguards and liability for nuclear damage.

• A government contemplating a nuclear power programme should have a commitment to international nonproliferation obligations.

• One of the recent legislative challenges has been the liability arrangements for nuclear damage.

Legislation and International Commitments (2/2)


• Crucial to the long term success of a national nuclear power programme is the existence of an independent and competent nuclear regulatory body.

• The compilation of regulations to fully support a nuclear programme is extensive.

• The national regulation shall take into account local and cultural conditions.

Regulatory Framework


• A generally accepted principle is that a single power plant should represent no more than 10% of the total installed capacity: dispatching of their full capacity should be possible all along, grid reliability is important to nuclear safety.

• In some countries the grid size may rule out the beneficial utilization of nuclear power in the near future because grid size limits the electrical output of the power plant, proper (small) size reactor designs are not available in the

market for the moment.

Energy System and Grid Size (1/2)


• The grid interconnections with neighboring countries may in some cases be an effective way to cope with the challenges of the grid size and characteristics.

• The NORDEL grid system in Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden is an example.

Energy System and Grid Size (2/2)


Site (1/2)

• Ease of integration into the electric system;

• Geology and tectonic;• Seismology;• Heat removal capability;• Hydrology;• Demography;• Meteorology;• Nuclear safety and

radiation protection aspects;

• Environmental effects;• Risks from man-made

events;• Availability of local

infrastructure;• Ease of access;• Legal aspects;• Public interaction;• Vulnerability to malicious

acts.


Elements of site study and characterization:

• To find a site meeting all aspects in proper way may be a challenge in some countries.

• Risks for natural and man-made events on the site are of crucial importance.

• Technical countermeasures to compensate unfavorable site characteristics can increase the investment cost.

Site (2/2)


• Nuclear safety is a mandatory component of all activities associated with the design, manufacture, building and operation of a nuclear power plant.

• The nuclear accidents have had a big impact to the public and political acceptance of nuclear power.

• Efforts to enhance the safety should be continue and even strengthened taking into account not only the lessons learned from accidents but also wider perspective.

Safety (1/2)


• The international harmonization of safety requirements would be of crucial importance.

• Some technical features should deserve more attention in the design of nuclear power plants, e.g.decay heat removal by passive means, limitation of radiological consequences in the plant

environment from core meltdown accidents.

Safety (2/2)


• All front end services, i.e. uranium mining, milling, chemical conversion, enrichment and fabrication may be confidently purchased from international markets, which reduces the needs to develop a national fuel cycle infrastructure.

• International initiatives are being proposed which should provide further assurance of fuel supply at competitive pricing.

Fuel cycle and waste management (1/2)


• If the reprocessing option will be selected for used fuel, there are a couple of countries offering reprocessing services.

• Other back end functions, i.e. used fuel storage, ultimate disposal of used fuel or high level radioactive waste from reprocessing, are generally provided nationally.

• The main challenge related to the back end is to find a suitable place for the final repository for used fuel or high level radioactive waste.

• A national repository also for low and intermedium level waste is needed.

Fuel cycle and waste management (2/2)


• Benefits of national participation limit the need for foreign loans, improve industrial competitiveness and the

country's self-sufficiency, increase local employment, raise national engineering capability,develop the ability to use new technology and

acquire know-how andstrengthen independent capability to train local

manpower.

National Participation (1/3)


• Risks of national participationPotential quality problems due to unqualified

national supplier; Potential delays caused by inexperienced

national suppliers;Cost overruns.



• The optimum level of national participation is depending on the maturity of the national industry, at the lowest level, local labor and some

construction materials are used for on-site non-specialized purposes, especially for the civil engineering work,

at the highest level, special factories are set up locally to manufacture heavy and specialized nuclear components.



• The electricity generation cost of nuclear power is dominated by the investment cost of the nuclear power plant.

• The overall trend of the investment cost has been increasing.

• A way to cope the situation would be to favor and develop simpler designs but still fulfilling strict safety requirements.

• The economy of scale makes the competitiveness of small and medium size reactors very challenging.

Economy


• Nuclear power carries some unique and significant financial risks, e.g. the occurrence of a nuclear incident; construction delays; regulatory delays; delays from public or political intervention.

• A sound financial plan is necessary to attract vendor interest in bidding on the nuclear power plant.

Financing (1/3)


• Financial institutions pay attention to issues like the political and economic stability of the country, the degree of socio-political involvement, the prospects of continued economic development, the protection to foreign investment, the promulgation of legislation favorable to nuclear

power, the existence of a competent regulatory body and the capability to manage large capital construction

projects.

Financing (2/3)


• One additional challenge is that many multinational banks like Asian Development Bank Inter-American Development BankEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentAfrican Development BankWorld Bankhave for the moment a policy not to finance nuclear power projects.

Financing (3/3)


Stakeholder Involvement (1/2)

• Politicians• Public• Regulators• Special interest groups• Investors• Economic developers• Media• Electricity customers

• Local community• Employees • Labour Unions• Suppliers• Educational Institutions• Neighbouring Countries• International

Organisations


Typical stakeholders of nuclear programme

• Stakeholder involvement is important because it may result in attention to issues that otherwise might escape scrutiny.

• Providing constructive participation by stakeholder groups on controversial issues can be a major administrative and logistical challenge.

• An effective stakeholder participation in decision making processes requires that appropriate programs and procedures are established in good time.

Stakeholder Involvement (2/2)


• Nuclear power has some unquestionable benefits.

• However there are also numerous challenges which should not be undermined.

• The success of a nuclear power program is depending on recognition of challenges and necessary

commitments,programs with a fixed purpose, timely and effective implementation of programs.

Conclusions


Thank you for your attention!


Nuclear Power: Considerations and Challenges · Nuclear Power: Considerations and Challenges Ami Rastas Consultant 2nd REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENERGY AND NUCLEAR POWER IN AFRICA CAPE

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