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INL and Economic Development:
Generation IV, Back to the
Future for INL
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| If you are wondering what
a "Generation IV" reactor is, you're in good company. Unless
you happen to work in the nuclear power industry, there's little reason
for knowing this sort of terminology. Here's a short primer on the
various generations of nuclear reactors. |
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| Generation I: the
prototypes |
| Beginning with the 1957
startup of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Shippingport,
Pennsylvania, there have been three generations of commercial nuclear
reactors built to generate electrical power. Generation I started
with Shippingport, which was a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The
prototype reactor station was built for the Atomic Energy Commission
and Duquesne Light Company to gain knowledge and experience used in
the design of the Generation II reactors that followed. Shippingport
operated until 1982. Other Generation I reactors included the Dresden-I
reactor near Morris, Illinois, the first commercial boiling water
reactor (BWR); the Fermi-I reactor near Detroit, Michigan, which was
the first commercial liquid-metal cooled, fast-breeder reactor; and
Fort St. Vrain near Platteville, Colorado, which was the first (and
only) gas-cooled commercial reactor built in the United States. |
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| Generation II: large-scale
power stations |
| The 104 commercial reactors
currently operating in the United States are Generation II reactors.
This second generation of nuclear design includes both United States'
PWR and BWR designs, Canadian CANDU reactors, French PWRs, and the
poorly designed Russian RMBK reactors like the one at Chernobyl. There
are 438 Generation II nuclear power plants generating about 17 percent
of the world's electricity. In the U.S., nuclear power supplies about
20 percent of our electricity. Percentages in other countries range
from 1% for China to 78 percent for Lithuania. |
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| Generation III:
not seen here |
Since
the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island, no U.S. utility has proposed
a new nuclear power plant. True, there had always been concerns
about nuclear power, but TMI was the capper. Around the world, however,
new nuclear power plants continue to be built. As of 2001, eight
reactors are under construction in China, four in South Korea, four
in the Ukraine, three in Japan—and others.
Some of
these new nuclear power plants, such as the Shika 2 plant being
constructed in Japan, define a third generation of commercial power
reactors. In the 80s, the Electric Power Research Institute, working
with General Electric and Westinghouse, promoted Advanced Light
Water Reactor design concepts that represent an evolution in nuclear
power plants.
Generation
III reactors have been designed so that safety features rely less
on human interaction and complex systems of equipment and more on
inherently safe design. The Integral Fast Reactor concept tested
at Argonne's INL facilities included passive safety features. |
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| Generation IV: back
to the future |
Generation
IV nuclear power plants will take what has been learned from the
first three generations and factor in design goals like minimizing
waste and making spent nuclear fuel more secure. But for nuclear
power to have a future in the United States, Generation IV reactors
will also have to address other factors. Design, safety, and engineering
advances alone won't allay the fears of those who reject nuclear
power—credibility must be established and trust earned. |
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