Related Pages
(Updated March 2011)
Government policy is central to any discussion of nuclear power in the USA. The development of nuclear power began as a government program in 1945 following on from the Manhattan Project to develop the wartime atomic bomb. The first nuclear reactor to produce electricity did so at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) in Idaho in December 1951, as the US government reoriented significant resources to the development of civilian use of nuclear power. In the mid-1950s, production of electricity from nuclear power was opened up to private industry. The world's first large-scale nuclear power plant at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, was owned by the US Atomic Energy Commission, but built and operated by the Duquesne Light and Power Company on a site owned by the utility company near Pittsburgh. Today, almost all the commercial reactors in the USA are owned by private companies, and nuclear industry as a whole has far greater private participation, and less concentration, than any other country.
Yet, the government remains more involved in commercial nuclear power than in any other industry in the USA. There are lengthy, detailed requirements for the construction and operation of all reactors and conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, mining and milling facilities. The review process preceding the construction of new reactors can take 3-5 years. The US government, through its own national research laboratories and projects at university and industry facilities, is the main source of funding for advanced reactor and fuel cycle research. It also promises to provide incentives for building new plants through loan guarantees and tax credits, although owners have to raise their own capital. US domestic energy policy is also closely linked to foreign, trade and defence policy on such matters as mitigating climate change and nuclear non-proliferation (of weapons).
As of January 2010 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was reviewing 13 applications for combined construction and operating licences (COLs) to build 22 new nuclear reactors, as well as five applications for design certifications for new reactor types. The agency's request for oversight of the 104 operating power reactors was $531.6 million, including 13 reviews of extended power uprate requests and 13 licence renewal applications.
State and local governments also have a major impact on the framework and economics of the US nuclear power industry. Deregulation of electricity prices in some states in the 1990s led to greater concentration in nuclear power production. In 1976, a voter referendum in California led to a law that prohibited the construction of new nuclear plants in the nation's largest state and the prohibition still remains in effect. Opposition in the state of Nevada was a key factor in the decision by the new Democratic administration of Barack Obama in early 2009 to abandon the government's long-standing plans for a 70,000 tonne geological repository in that state for disposal of the high-level nuclear waste that has accumulated at reactor sites across the nation.
After much preliminary debate, the Energy Policy Act 2005 comfortably passed both houses (74-26 in the Senate and 275-156 in the House). It included incentives for the nuclear power industry, including:
Also $1.25 billiona was authorised for an advanced high-temperature reactor (Next Generation Nuclear Plant) to be built by 2021a at the Idaho National Laboratory, capable of cogenerating hydrogen. Overall more than $2 billion was provided for hydrogen demonstration projects. See later section on NGNP.
In 2006, it was spelled out that the 6000 MWe eligible for production tax credits would be divided pro-rata among those applicants which filed combined construction and operating licence (COL) applications by the end of 2008, which commence construction of advanced plants by 2014, and which enter service by 2021.
In October 2007, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it would guarantee the full amount of loans covering up to 80% of the cost of new clean energy projects including advanced nuclear power plants under the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The first round of loan guarantees went to renewable energy and advanced gas (e.g. integrated gasification combined cycle) projects, those for nuclear then still had to be authorised by Congress.
The Act also addressed climate change, requiring action on a national strategy to address the issue. In 2008, the USA emitted 5.8 billion tonnes of CO2 from energy use.
Federal loan guarantees for new plants (and renewable energy projects)
In mid-2008, the Department of Energy (DOE) invited applications for loan guarantees to support the construction of advanced nuclear power plants (up to $18.5 billion total) and uranium enrichment plants (up to $2 billion initially, but now $4 billion). A further $78.5 billion was offered for renewable energy projects, and $8 billion for 'clean coal'. Loan guarantees are to encourage the commercial use of new or significantly improved energy technologies and "will enable project developers to bridge the financing gap between pilot and demonstration projects to full commercially viable projects that employ new or significantly improved energy technologies."1, b They are a form of support that allows companies to finance debt at reduced rates.
Any preliminary approvals issued in 2010-11 are conditional upon the applicant receiving a combined construction and operating licence (COL) from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the first of these are not expected in 2011.
Applications were lodged in 2008, with a fee of $200,000 for the first part and $600,000 for the second part. The DOE received 19 initial applications from 17 utilities to support the construction of 14 nuclear power plants involving 21 new reactors of five different designs. The total capacity involved was 28,800 MWe. The total requested came to $122 billion, significantly more than the $18.5 billion offered. The aggregate estimated construction cost involved the 14 projects was $188 billion. The DOE also received two applications for enrichment plants, total $4 billion, against $2 billion initially on offer.
In the light of the interest shown and the fact that the scheme is borrower-funded, the industry called for the amount available for power plants to be increased to $100 billion. In February 2010, the Administration added $36 billion to its FY2011 budget proposal to expand the reactor part of the scheme to $54.5 billion, covering 6 to 8 projects involving up to 13 reactors of several different designs, but this ws not approved by Congress. In February 2011 the request was repeated for FY 2012. In the meantime, DOE granted one application (Vogtle) and sought to increase the sum available before October 2010 by $9 billion through other legislation, so that it could approve the other three short-listed power plant applications involving five reactors. It offered a loan guarantee to Unistar for Calvert Cliffs, but Constellation rejected this due to the high costs imposed.
The amount for enrichment plants was increased to $4 billion early in 2010, evidently to allow for both applicants to receive perhaps $2 billion each. While Areva's technology obviously qualifies, and USEC's as yet doesn’t, Areva is effectively a French government enterprise, so choosing between them would be politically fraught. LESc then asked DOE to reopen the solicitation to it "and others", i.e. Global Laser Enrichment (GLE), on the basis of fair and open competitiond. Neither LES nor GLE has yet applied for a loan guarantee, though GLE has said it would do so for its proposed Wilmington plant, and LES is intending to do so for the expansion of its plant in New Mexico over 2014-17.
Loan guarantee applications
Subsidies and R&D support
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) published an analysis of US government energy subsidies and R&D support in 2007, totaling $16.6 billion – double the 1999 level. Of this, $6.75 billion was related to electricity production, and $6.0 billion of this was split between R&D and subsidies. Apart from transmission and distribution ($875 million), the balance was $1.55 billion for R&D in anticipation of future benefits and $3.55 billion in subsidies for present production. The $1.55 billion for R&D comprised $922 million for nuclear, $522 million for coal and $108 million for renewables – which currently supply 19.4%, 49% and 2.5% (apart from hydro) of US power respectively. Nuclear R&D comprised $319 million for new nuclear plant design and proliferation-resistant fuel cycle, $350 million for clean-up of nuclear energy and research sites and $253 million for Idaho facilities and related management. Two-thirds of coal R&D was for 'clean coal' programs.
The $3.55 billion for subsidies was by way of tax credits, with the lion's share going to coal-based synthetic fuel which achieves some emissions reduction. Nuclear got $199 million and renewables $724 million (0.025 cents/kWh and 0.71 ¢/kWh respectively). The apparent nuclear subsidy was entirely due to a change in tax rules related to decommissioning, under the 2005 Energy Policy Act.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) was formed in 1977 in the midst of America's energy crisis. It brought together activities under the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) founded in 1946 as the civil successor to the Manhattan Project, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) which succeeded it in 1974, and other bodies. The purpose was to achieve better coordination of policy by putting previously disparate agencies and programs together into a single Cabinet-level department. The Secretary of Energy reports to the President. The DOE's responsibilities include policy and funding for programs on nuclear energy, fossil fuels, hydropower and alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar power.
The DOE also manages (often through a private-sector operations contractor) the government's 21 national laboratories, including the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), which manages a major portion of the govenment's nuclear energy research. The DOE sponsors more basic and applied research, including research done at universities or by industry, than any other government agency. In addition to the DOE's responsibilities for civilian nuclear energy, its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) oversees the military application of nuclear energy, maintaining the country's weapons stockpile and managing the design, production and testing of nuclear weapons.
Most of the federal programs concerned with civilian use of nuclear energy are run by the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, including research and development of next-generation nuclear plants, advanced fuel cycle technology, funding for government-industry partnerships for construction of new reactors, and operations and funding for nuclear energy projects at national laboratories. Budgets for these programs have generally grown in recent years as the US government has sought to meet the goals of energy independence, reduction of carbon emissions and meeting the future demand for electricity. However, under the Obama administration the total level of funding for the Office of Nuclear Energy has been reduced. The major increases in the DOE budget are in the areas of alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal, and energy efficiency and conservation.
Programs run by the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy include:
Nuclear Power 2010
In February 2002, the DOE announced the Nuclear Power 2010 programe, a government-industry, cost-shared partnership to spur new construction of advanced current generation (Generation III) plants. The program provided matching funds for the preparation of licence applications and encouraged the industry to make use of expedited licensing procedures, such as the combined construction and operating licence (COL) process in seeking approvals from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The initiative led to the formation of several utility-vendor consortia, formed to put together proposals to receive matching funds for advanced plant applications, and to the filing of 17 applications for licences under the COL process (see Preparing for new build section in the information page on Nuclear Power in the USA and Nuclear Power in the USA Appendix 3: COL Applications).
The Obama administration's FY 2010 budget request drastically reduced funding for the Nuclear Power 2010 program, with only $20 million requested for that fiscal year, versus $177.5 million for fiscal 2009. The budget cuts brought criticism from the nuclear industry, and the US Congress, which has the final decision on appropriations, allocated $105 million for FY 2010. For FY 2011, the budget request was zero, on the basis that the program had been successfully completed. While the broad outlines of US nuclear policy, on matters such as energy independence and controlling carbon emissions remain the same, each new administration brings shifts in policy.
National laboratories
Much of the USA's applied research, as well as a significant amount of basic research, is conducted at DOE's 21 national laboratories. In 2005, a number of nuclear energy research programs moved to the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), formed from two existing entities on the same site – the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and Argonne National Laboratory West (ANL-W). INEEL was established in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station and for many years had the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world – 52 different reactors were designed and tested there, including the first reactor to generate electricity from nuclear power (in 1951). ANL-W had been the testing site for research by the University of Chicago, and worked closely with INEEL. It also was developing spacecraft power systems for NASA. All this work was under DOE auspices.
INL now leads US participation in the Generation IV International Forum, and is developing the US Next Generation Nuclear Plant (see section below on NGNP) as well as a number of Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative projects. INL also plays a major role with the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management in developing procedures for high-level waste disposal. Over 6,000 employees work at the INL site.
Other nuclear research facilities owned by the DOE include the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. At the DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a demonstration complex with prototype or demonstration models of up to 15 small reactors has been proposed (see Future reactors section in the information page on Nuclear Power in the USA). Research funded by the DOE is also conducted at more than 70 universities throughout the country. Employees at the national laboratories come from both the government and the private sector, with many engineers and scientists as well as administrators working under contract.
Several of the DOE laboratory sites have legacy wastes requiring clean-up, and programs are in place to achieve this.
Nuclear Energy Research Initiative
The Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) was launched in 1999 at a time of renewed concern over meeting the nation's long-term energy needs and increased awareness of the role of nuclear power as part of the energy mix. In 1977, President Clinton asked his Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology to examine the current national energy portfolio and make recommendations that would address the energy needs over the next century. A key recommendation was for a concerted research and development effort to overcome barriers to the expansion of nuclear energy capacity, such as capital costs, nuclear waste disposal and the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation. In response to this recommendation, NERI was established in 1999 to fund research at the national laboratories, universities and industry facilities. In 2004, NERI was refocused to concentrate on university research projects that would advance the government's primary nuclear energy R&D programs: the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative (Gen IV) and the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative (NHI), allied to the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program.
Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative
The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is one of the US government's two major research programs for nuclear energy (see also next section on Generation IV). The development of new fuel cycle technology has been a goal of DOE since its inception, but funding has grown significantly in recent years, driven by the need to manage high-level waste, avoid the production of separated civilian plutonium, recover the energy value of spent fuel, and develop fuel cycles for next generation nuclear plants.
AFCI research and development efforts include technologies to separate the elements left in used fuel (mainly the UREX processes) and to transmute the most troublesome components of used fuel (such as plutonium and minor actinides) into material that is less hazardous for disposal or can be recycled as fuel for fast reactors. A particular focus of AFCI research is the development of fuel systems and enabling technologies for Generation IV nuclear plants.
Generation IV
The Generation IV Nuclear Systems Initiative (Gen IV) has the mandate to develop new reactor systems that can be deployed over the next 20 years. The DOE supports research on five next generation reactors: the thermal neutron, gas cooled very high temperature reactor (VHTR); the super-critical water cooled reactor (SCWR); the gas-cooled fast neutron reactor (GFR); the lead-cooled fast neutron reactor (LFR); and the sodium-cooled fast neutron reactor.
The DOE has given priority to the VHTR, which is being pursued as the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP, see section below on NGNP). VHTR reactors would be capable of producing both electricity and hydrogen on a large scale, but would not have the same capability as fast reactors to burn recycled nuclear fuel. See also information page on Generation IV Nuclear Reactors.
In February 2010, the DOE said that Generation IV systems R&D would continue along with NGNP and small modular reactor R&D under a new Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration program.
Next Generation Nuclear Plant
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project to develop, construct and operate a prototype high-temperature gas-cooled reactor and associated electricity or hydrogen production facilities by 2021f. The 2005 act stipulated that the NGNP project was to be led by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and that a cost-sharing arrangement should be entered into with the private sector. For this purpose, the NGNP Industry Alliance, which includes major reactor vendors and potential end users, was established in 2009, although no agreement on a public-private partnership with the DOE has yet been reached. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to come to around $4 billiong.
INL is working closely with industry to identify the opportunities and potential market for the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology in the industrial and transportation sectors. Primary interest is in providing co-generated process heat and electricity to large industrial energy end-users, including coal to synthetic oil, as well as producing hydrogen by high-temperature steam electrolysis (not thermochemically). Ongoing activities include examining the integration of modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor plants with chemical and other industrial processes, and evaluating the economics for such applications. However, economics is not the primary consideration, since the proposed energy applications involve industrial processes which have specific needs in terms of acceptable heat transport fluids and the associated thermodynamic conditions.
Three companies were awarded $8 million in contracts for preconceptual NGNP design: General Atomics, Areva, and Westinghouse/PBMR (Pty). In July 2007, the DOE announced that it was seeking to move to the next stage of defining safety and functional requirements, cost estimates and schedules.
The NGNP licensing plan was submitted to Congress by the DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in August 2008. It features a high temperature gas-cooled reactor configured to provide heat at 750ºC and up to 950°C for a range of industrial uses particularly hydrogen production, or electricity generation. Construction would commence from 2017 for start up in 2021. Some regulatory changes would be needed to cope with the innovative design and reactor's likely location on industrial sites, along with different procedures for used fuel. The NRC expected to take five years to organize for the NGNP, allowing the DOE to apply for a construction and operating licence by 2014.
A number of reactor designs fit the NGNP specification, notably: General Atomics' GT-MHR; Areva's similar Antares design; the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR), which until May 2010 was backed by Westinghouse and South Africa's PBMR (Pty) Limited; and the HTR-PM from Chinah.
In September 2009, the DOE announced that it would offer up to $40 million for an initial planning phase for the project (Phase 1), including a business plan for integrating detailed design, licensing and construction activities, applied to two different reactor designs. The DOE noted that "NGNP will extend the application of nuclear energy into the broader industrial and transportation sectors, reducing fuel use and pollution." In March 2010, the DOE said that it had awarded the $40 million to two teams: Westinghouse, with PBMR (Pty) and The Shaw Group; and General Atomics with General Dynamics, URS Washington, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and Fuji. However, in May 2010, the team of Westinghouse, PBMR (Pty) and Shaw were unable to "reach agreement on a way forward," according to Westinghousei. The Westinghouse team did not therefore participate in Phase 1 of the NGNP program, although Westinghouse remains involved in other aspects of the program. The General Atomics consortium was expected to complete the conceptual design phase by the end of 2010.
Phase 2 of the NGNP program would entail detailed design, licence review and construction of a demonstration plant. This phase of the program is subject to a decision to be made by the Energy Secretary, which will follow a Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee report on the program, expected in July 2011. The DOE is aiming to set up a public-private partnership to take forward the project, and says that a mid 2011 announcement will outline this. The nuclear industry has suggested that private partners might pay the majority of the cost after the reactor design receives NRC certification, but that DOE should bear most costs until then. DOE also said that the 20121 target was not achievable due to lack of funding and lack of progress internally.
In February 2010, the DOE said that NGNP R&D would continue along with Generation IV systems under a new Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) program.
Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative
The DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy is aiming to demonstrate the commercial-scale production of hydrogen using heat from a nuclear energy system by 2017. This is based on using high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTRs) as outlined above, and under its Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative, three technologies are the focus of R&D: thermochemical water splitting; high-temperature electrolysis; and the production interface between the HTR and the process.
The DOE has also selected two teams to investigate the economic feasibility of producing hydrogen using power from existing reactors. A following phase will involve demonstration. One team led by GE Global Research will look at the alkaline electrolysis technique and another team led by Electric Transport Applications will pursue electrolysis using proton exchange membranes, based on a pilot plant in Arizona that produces 212 m3 per day of hydrogen.
Related to this, the University of Texas has approved a scheme to build a $500 million high-temperature reactor at Andrews campus, based on General Atomics' Modular Helium Reactor (MHR) and involving DOE's Sandia National Laboratory. A 2012 completion date is envisaged for the High Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor Energy Research Facility. This program is focused on eventual thermochemical production of hydrogen.
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) initiative announced by the US government in 2006 proposed that the United States and other developed nations would move forward with proliferation-resistant recycling technologies and provide nuclear fuel to developing countries that promised not to engage in enrichment and reprocessing activities. GNEP has attracted criticism, but has brought increased attention to the possibilities of reprocessing used fuel from commercial reactors, an issue once thought to be decided in the USA since being banned by the Carter administration in 1977. The problem of disposing of used fuel, as well as nuclear weapons proliferation, remain high on the US policy agenda, but GNEP has lost support as a possible solution. In early 2009, under the Obama administration, the DOE removed its GNEP website and did not refer to the program in its budget request for FY 2010. Then, in June 2009, the DOE announced it had decided to cancel the GNEP programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) "because it is no longer pursuing domestic commercial reprocessing, which was the primary focus of the prior Administration's domestic GNEP program."6 However, it is pursuing the AFCI initiative described above, which comprises much of the scope of GNEP. (See information page on Global Nuclear Energy Partnership).
Small Modular ReactorsIn the FY 2012 Administration budget requests is a new $67 million DOE program for small modular reactors (SMR). This would involve obtaining design certification and COLs for two light-water SMRs on a cost-share basis with industry, to accelerate the commercial deployment of these. The NRC also requested $11 million for pre-application work on SMR licensing with two developers leading to filing the design certification applications and some initial review for one such application.More advanced designs such as metal- or gas-cooled SMRs could get some funds from DOE's separate Reactor Concepts Research Development and Demonstration program, $30 million of which is envisaged for SMR concepts.
Megatons to Megawatts
Megatons to Megawatts is the name of the highly successful program, based on nuclear weapons treaties with Russia, that provides about one-half of the fuel for US commercial reactors. Since 1987, the United States and countries of the former USSR have signed a series of treaties to reduce their nuclear arsenals by about 80%. In 1993, the USA and Russia reached an agreement to convert 500 tonnes of high-enriched uranium (HEU) from dismantled Russian warheads into low-enriched uranium (LEU) that would be brought to the USA for use as fuel in civilian nuclear reactors. The United States Enrichment Corporation (now USEC Inc) acts as the US government's executive agent for the program. By mid-2009, the USA had received 10,500 tonnes of LEU from Russia that had been downblended from 367 tonnes of HEU (equivalent to over 14,500 nuclear warheads, according to USEC). As part of its commitments under the program, the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has declared large quantities of HEU and weapons-grade plutonium to be surplus and available to be downblended domestically for civilian power generation. (See information pages on US Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Military Warheads as a Source of Nuclear Fuel.)
Other international collaborationThe USA has a large number of bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with various countries, specified under Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act. Recent important ones have been with India and China. In January 2011 the Russian-US nuclear cooperation agreement entered into force after some delay - it had been signed in May 2008 but not approved by Congress. Negotiations on it started in the mid 1990s, but differing approaches to Iran stalled it for a decade. It is expected to expedite international trade in a variety of areas and enable greater cooperation on reactor and fuel cycle technologies, as well as non-proliferation initiatives.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent government agency that regulates all aspects of the nuclear industry in the USA, including reactors, fuel cycle facilities and the transportation, disposal and storage of spent fuel. The NRC's chairman and four other commissioner are appointed by the President. Up until 1974, regulation of the nuclear industry was the responsibility of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), which also had the mission of promoting the civilian use of nuclear power. The AEC was abolished in 1974, and its regulatory duties were assigned to the newly created NRC and its promotional activities were placed in the Energy Research and Development Administration (later the US Department of Energy).
A major responsibility of the NRC is the licensing of operating nuclear plants, and of proposed new ones. Both involve the review of detailed engineering, safety and environmental information as well as extended public hearings for any changes or new proposals. In recent years, the NRC has made an effort to expedite its procedures while still adhering to a strict regulatory framework. Power companies considering new capacity have been encouraged to make greater use of the NRC's combined construction and operating licence (COL) process, which had been in place since 1989 but not used until 2007. Companies can also apply for early site permits (ESPs), which allow them to apply for approval at a particular site before specifying the design of the reactor or to apply using one of the generic designs already certified by the NRC. (See information page on Nuclear Power in the USA.)
Initial operating licences for commercial power reactors are 40 years, but the NRC allows owners to apply for extensions of an additional 20 years. With the licences of many reactors built in the 1970s due to expire before 2020, the NRC has streamlined the process for renewal, concentrating on safety issues as opposed to other more procedural rules. Since 2000, the NRC has approved licence extensions for 52 reactors, with applications for a further 18 under review and applications for 15 others expected by 2013.
In addition to the licensing and safety oversight of reactors, the NRC has regulatory authority over uranium mines and mills, conversion and enrichment facilities, waste sites and all non-defence nuclear research laboratories (including those owned by the US Department of Energy). It recovers 90% of its budget (i.e. $911 million in FY2010) from licensees and applicants – an operating power reactor is liable for $4.8 million per year.
The question of how to store and eventually dispose of high-level nuclear waste has been the subject of policy debate in the USA for several decades and is still unresolved. As well as civil high-level wastes (essentially all US used fuel plus research reactor used fuel of US origin) there is a significant amount of military high-level radioactive waste which Congress intends to share the same geological repository.
Since the beginnings of the commercial use of nuclear power in the USA, used fuel assemblies have been stored under water in pools (and later in dry casks as well) at reactor sites, and remained the responsibility of the plant owners. The prohibition of spent fuel reprocessing in 1977, combined with the continued accumulation, brought the question of permanent underground disposal to the forefront. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established a timetable and procedures for the building of two repositories, funded by fees from utilities, with the federal government taking delivery of the spent fuel along with responsibility for its storage starting in 1998. The Act was amended in 1987 to designate Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the sole initial repository for 70,000 tonnes of high-level wastes. But there have been delays due to underfunding, legal challenges, and political opposition from Nevada along the way. In mid-2008, the DOE submitted to NRC an 8600-page licence application for the repository.
In early 2009, the Secretary of Energy in the Barack Obama administration, Steven Chu, stated that notwithstanding the 1987 Act, Yucca Mountain was no longer considered an option, and funding for the project was cut back. The administration's budget request for FY 2011 envisaged shutting down the project altogetherj. In February 2010, the Department of Energy (DOE) filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to "stay" the Yucca Mountain licensing review, and said that it intends to withdraw the application "with prejudice", which would prevent it from ever being considered again. Also, the DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, which has run the repository program, would be eliminated, and work on all nuclear waste management issues would be transferred to the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. In hearings during June 2010, the DOE acknowledged that withdrawing the licence application was a policy decision, not science-based.
However, in June 2010, the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) ruled that the DOE had no right to substitute its own ideas in place of those legislated by Congress. The DOE and the NRC are bound by law to complete their work at Yucca Mountain unless Congress acts to supercede the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The ASLB stated: "Unless Congress directs otherwise, DOE may not single-handedly derail the legislated decision-making process by withdrawing the Application. DOE’s motion must therefore be denied."8
Utilities have paid over $17 billion into the Nuclear Waste Fund for the DOE to take over their used fuel, mostly through a 0.1 cent/kWh levy towards final disposal, so that by January 2010 it had accumulated over $31 billion, including investment returns. Of this, over $7 billion has been used to fund the Yucca Mountain project. The fund is growing by about $750 million per year from utility inputs and $1 billion per year from interest.
With the delay in proceeding with a repository for high-level wastes, proponents of new reactor construction must undertake to store used fuel on site indefinitely, so that the DOE does not become liable for delays. Hence new standard contracts with DOE specify that the DOE will begin removing used fuel within 20 years of the first refueling of a new reactor. As of January 2009, 19 such contracts had been signed under the NRC’s Waste Confidence Rule. They are a prerequisite for new reactor licensing. In December 2010 a final waste confidence decision was published by NRC, reflecting its confidence that used fuel can be stored safely for at least 60 years at reactor sites after a plant closes, and that a repository will become available "when necessary". Regulations were changed accordingly in January 2011.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu on 1 February 2010 announced the formation of a 15-member 'blue ribbon' waste commission which is to evaluate alternatives to direct disposal in the Yucca Mountain geological repository and to suggest how the country should proceed with management of used fuel. In a memorandum to the energy secretary9, President Obama said: "The commission should conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including all alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defence used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste." (On that basis Yucca Mountain would not be ruled out, since it was a blatant political decision by the Obama administration to reject it.) However, the commission's mandate is strategy, not siting. The review will "include an evaluation of advanced fuel cycle technologies that would optimize energy recovery, resource utilization, and the minimization of materials" – in other words, reprocessing and recycling as undertaken in Europe, Japan and prospectively in China. The commission is to submit an interim report within 18 months and a final report to Congress within 24 months.
One proposal, under discussion in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is an incentive program, similar to those in Sweden and Finland, for communities willing to host a repository or reprocessing facility.
The USA has a federal system of government with some powers and responsibilities carried out by states and municipalities, including the taxation and regulation of property and certain commercial activity within their boundaries. This means that, while the national government in Washington has primary jurisdiction with respect to most nuclear policy matters, states as well as local governments can have a significant impact on nuclear power use and capacity. One consequential case in point is the 1976 state law enacted in California to prohibit the construction of new nuclear power plants until approval of a means to dispose of spent fuel. This measure, which is still in effect, has had an impact not only on the nuclear power industry, but also on the supply and price of electricity in the nation's largest state, which must 'import' much of its electricity and has suffered from a series of blackouts and brownouts since the early 2000s (see information page on California's Electricity).
States also have an impact on the nuclear power industry through the authority of state public service commissions that regulate the retail sale of electricity to consumers (the federal government has jurisdiction over interstate wholesale rates, which are administered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission). The deregulation of electricity prices in many states in the late 1990s led to industry consolidation as large power companies purchased plant in deregulated states that allowed them to increase margins by reducing costs and taking advantage of higher market prices (see Ownership consolidation section in information page on Nuclear Power in the USA).
Another notable example of the important role of states is found in the Nuclear Waste Act, which gives individual states veto power on locating a waste repository within their boundaries unless overriden by a vote of both houses of Congress. This provision resulted in a series of legal and political challenges to the Yucca Mountain repository, and probably doomed the project. Finally, county governments have the power of levying property taxes, which makes them a key player in the siting of nuclear facilities. In 2006, for example, Calvert County, Maryland, authorized tax credit incentives for the new reactor that is planned to be built at the Calvert Cliffs plant.
Public opinion has generally been fairly positive, and has grown more so as people have had to think about security of energy supplies. Polls show continuing increase in public opinion favourable to nuclear power in the USA. More than three times as many strongly support nuclear energy than strongly oppose it. Two-thirds of self-described environmentalists favour it.
A May 2008 survey (N=2925) by Zogby International showed 67% of Americans favoured building new nuclear power plants, with 46% registering strong support; 23% were opposed10. Asked which kind of power plant they would prefer if it were sited in their community, 43% said nuclear, 26% gas, 8% coal. Men (60%) were more than twice as likely as women (28%) to be supportive of a nuclear power plant.
A March 2010 Bisconti-GfK Roper survey showed that strong public support for nuclear energy was being sustained, with 74% in favour of it11. In particular, 87% think nuclear will be important in meeting electricity needs in the years ahead, 87% support licence renewal for nuclear plants, 84% believe utilities should prepare to build more nuclear plants, 72% supported an active federal role in encouraging investment in "energy technology that reduces greenhouse gases", 82% agree that US nuclear plants are safe and secure, 77% would support adding a new reactor at the nearest nuclear plant, and 70% say that USA should definitely build more plants in the future. Only 10% of people said they strongly opposed the use of nuclear energy. In relation to recycling used nuclear fuel, 79% supported this (contra past US policy), and the figure rose to 85% if "a panel of independent experts" recommended it. Although 59% were confident that used reactor fuel could be stored safely at nuclear power plant sites, 81% expressed a strong desire for the federal government to move used nuclear fuel to centralised, secure storage facilities away from the plant sites until a permanent disposal facility is ready. Half of those surveyed considered themselves to be environmentalists.
A February 2011 Bisconti-GfK Roper survey showed similar figures, and that 89% of Americans agree that all low-carbon energy sources – including nuclear, hydro and renewable energy – should be taken advantage of to generate electricity while limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Just 10% disagreed. Also some 84% of respondents said that they associate nuclear energy "a lot" or "a little" with reliable electricity; 79% associate nuclear energy with affordable electricity; 79% associate nuclear energy with economic growth and job creation; and 77% associate nuclear energy and clean air.
A more general March 2010 Gallup poll (N=1014) on energy showed 62% in favour of using nuclear power, including 28% strongly so, and 33% against, the most favourable figures since Gallup began polling the question in 1994. However, only 51% of Democrat voters were in favour12.
In mid-2009, a survey of 1,152 people living within 16 km of 64 nuclear power plants in the USA, but without any personal involvement with them, showed very strong support for new nuclear plants13. Some 84% favoured nuclear energy, 90% had a positive view of their local nuclear power plant, and 76% would support construction of a new reactor near them. The survey also found that 88% give the nearest nuclear plant a 'high' safety rating, 91% have confidence in the company’s ability to operate the power plant safely, and 86% believe the company is doing a good job protecting the environment. On nuclear waste, only 56% said it can be safely stored at the plant and 82% said the federal government should get on with developing the Yucca Mountain repository, despite the Obama administration's decision not to proceed with it. A surprising 91% said that the USA should recycle used nuclear fuel. Regarding accurate and reliable sources of information about nuclear energy, various nuclear plant sources were rated 75-76%, compared with environmental groups 42% and anti-nuclear groups 19%.
It was the third time since 2005 that this survey – commissioned by the Nuclear Energy Institute and conducted by Bisconti Research with Quest Global Research – was carried out. The overall findings are slightly more positive than those in 2007, where the researchers concluded that "Nimby (not in my back yard) does not apply at existing plant sites because close neighbours have a positive view of nuclear energy, are familiar with the plant, and believe that the plant benefits the community."14
Non-proliferation
The USA is a nuclear weapons state, party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which it ratified in 1970 and under which a safeguards agreement has been in force since 1980. The Additional Protocol in relation to this was signed in 1998 and ratified in 2004, though arrangements to bring it into force were not completed until the end of 2008. While in NPT weapons states the Additional Protocol is largely symbolic, the State Department noted that US ratification "gives us a stronger foundation from which to encourage other states to adopt the Protocol." IAEA safeguards are applied on all civil nuclear activities. (The USA undertook nuclear weapons tests from 1945 to 1992.)
Nuclear Power in the USAUS Nuclear Fuel CycleCalifornia's ElectricityGlobal Nuclear Energy PartnershipThree Mile Island
a. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized $1.25 billion for FY 2006 through to 2015 to be appropriated for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project. For FY 2016 through to 2021, the Act authorized "such sums as are necessary." The target date to complete construction of the NGNP is given as the end of September 2021. Should construction not be completed by this date, the Act directs the Energy Secretary to "submit to Congress a report establishing an alternative date for completion." [Back]
b. The loan guarantees provide government backing to loans which are therefore more readily available and at lower interest rates. They are ultimately funded by the borrowers through a fee and are expected to act as a catalyst and reduce financing cost by demonstrating government support for particular projects which have undergone thorough scrutiny by the DOE and its outside advisers. The guarantees are not an actual appropriation and, therefore, do not represent an outlay of taxpayer dollars when the clean energy projects are successfully completed. The guarantees are designed to boost investor confidence and allow worthy projects to move ahead with financing on more reasonable terms that ultimately will lower the overall cost of electricity generated by those projects. This is important in the USA where ownership of nuclear plants is widely dispersed, and even the largest companies like Exleon have a market capitalization of only some $30 billion, compared with EDF's $200 billion in Europe.
The federal government already has existing loan guarantee programs for a $1100 billion portfolio that enable investment in shipbuilding, transport, infrastructure, exports and other critical needs. [Back]
c. Louisiana Energy Services (LES) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Urenco USA. In June 2006, LES was issued a licence to construct and operate a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant known as the National Enrichment Facility (NEF). In January 2010, NEF was rebranded Urenco USA. It is located five miles east of Eunice, New Mexico. LES is so-called because its initial plans launched in 1989 were to build an enrichment plant in the State of Louisiana. [Back]
d. The LES letter of 31 March 2010 challenged the presumed politically comfortable solution, saying: “DOE’s recognition of the importance of competitiveness and its adoption of the solicitation process underscores that the available loan guarantee authority should be awarded based on the merits of the projects, not on a ‘first-come-first served basis’ as would be the case if DOE does not make the additional loan guarantee authority available on an open and competitive basis.” [Back]
e. An October 2001 report prepared by the Near Term Deployment Group (which comprised representatives of nuclear utilities, reactor vendors, national laboratories and academia) for the DOE, A Roadmap to Deploy New Nuclear Power Plants in the United States by 2010,2 made a number of recommendations aimed at facilitating the construction of new nuclear plants by 2010. The report called on government support "in the form of leadership, effective policy, efficient regulatory approvals, and cost sharing of generic and one-time costs." The measures recommended in the report to overcome the perceived barriers to licensing and siting of new plants were addressed under the DOE's Nuclear Power 2010 program, which was announced by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on 14 February 2002. The recommendations to the government in the 2001 report, including those covered by the Nuclear Power 2010 program, were incorporated into the Energy Policy Act of 2005. [Back]
f. The concept of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project essentially came from the October 2001 report, A Roadmap to Deploy New Nuclear Power Plants in the United States by 2010 (see Note e above). The report envisaged new nuclear plants, including gas-cooled reactors, coming online from 2010. However, as gas-cooled reactors had to overcome greater design-specific gaps than advanced light water reactors, the report noted that "implementation of a demonstration project, perhaps at a federal facility" was potentially required for gas-cooled technology.
While the October 2001 report envisaged operation by 2010, the date for completion of construction of the NGNP given in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is the end of September 2021 (see Note a above). Around the time of the 2005 act, this 2021 date for operation had been considered to be conservative – for example, one of the key intermediate objectives in the Department of Energy Strategic Plan 20033 was: "By 2016, a Next Generation Nuclear Plant prototype demonstrates efficient electricity and hydrogen production." However, 2021 operation is now at best considered to be very difficult to achieve. The Office of Nuclear Energy's 2010 Report to Congress on the NGNP4 states: "Whether or not the overall schedule for completing the construction of the NGNP in FY 2021 can still be met depends on many factors, including funding availability from both federal and private sectors." [Back]
g. Although the Office of Nuclear Energy's 2010 Report to Congress on the NGNP (see Reference 4 below) estimates the total NGNP project cost to come to $4 billion through to 2021 (assuming operation of the NGNP in that year), the NGNP Industry Alliance quotes a figure of $6.8 billion5. [Back]
h. The HTR-PM consists of two 250 MWt reactor modules per unit. It is based on the 10 MWt HTR-10, which was commissioned in 2000, at Tsinghua University's Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology (INET) near Beijing. In July 2005, Westinghouse and INET signed a memorandum of understanding to form a cooperative relationship for bidding on and participating in the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP).
See the Research and development section in the information page on China's Nuclear Fuel Cycle for more on the HTR-10 and the HTR-PM. [Back]
i. Although PBMR (Pty) dropped out of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program in May 2010 (see section on PBMR in the information page on Nuclear Power in South Africa), Westinghouse and others continued to participate in the program. Should the NGNP program proceed to Phase 2 (detailed design and construction phase), it is still possible that Westinghouse could participate using its own HTR technology, although no decision has yet been made. [Back]
j. The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request7 states: "The FY 2010 budget request of $197 million for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) implements the Administration's decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain program while developing nuclear waste disposal alternatives. All funding for development of the Yucca Mountain facility would be eliminated, such as further land acquisition, transportation access, and additional engineering. The budget request includes the minimal funding needed to explore alternatives for nuclear waste disposal through OCRWM and to continue participation in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license application process, consistent with the provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act." [Back]
1. DOE Announces Solicitations for $30.5 Billion in Loan Guarantees DOE news release (30 June 2008 ) [Back]
2. Volume I and Volume II of A Roadmap to Deploy New Nuclear Power Plants in the United States by 2010, prepared by the Near Term Deployment Group for the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology and its Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee's Subcommittee on Generation IV Technology Planning (31 October 2001) are available on the Nuclear Power 2010 Program Activities section of the Office of Nuclear Energy website (www.ne.doe.gov) [Back]
3. Strategic Plan: Protecting National, Energy, and Economic Security with Advanced Science and Technology and Ensuring Environmental Cleanup, U.S. Department of Energy (30 September 2003) [Back]
4. Next Generation Nuclear Plant Report to Congress, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy (April 2010) [Back]
5. Next Generation Nuclear Plant Project Implementation Strategy, NGNP Industry Alliance (30 November 2009) [Back]
6. Fatal blow to GNEP?, World Nuclear News (29 June 2009); Federal Register, Notices, Vol. 74, No. 123, pages 31017-31018 (29 June 2009) [Back]
7. U.S. Department of Energy FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request, Volume 5 (Environmental Management, Defense Nuclear Waste Disposal, Nuclear Waste Disposal), DOE/CF-039, Office of Chief Financial Officer, Office of Budget (May 2009) [Back]
8. 2010/06/29-Board Memorandum and Order (Granting Intervention to Petitioners and Denying Withdrawal Motion) (LBP-10-11), United States of America Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, (29 June 2010) available from Agency Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), Accession Number ML101800299 [Back]
9. Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, Office of the Press Secretary, The White House (29 January 2010). See also Secretary Chu Announces Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, U.S. Department of Energy, Press Release (29 January 2010) [Back]
10. 67% Favor Building New Nuclear Power Plants in U.S., Zogby International (6 June 2008) [Back]
11. Public Support for Nuclear Energy at Record High, Bisconti Research, Inc (March 2010) [Back]
12. U.S. Support for Nuclear Power Climbs to New High of 62%, Gallup (22 March 2010) [Back]
13. Third Biennial Nuclear Power Plant Neighbor Public Opinion Tracking Survey, Bisconti Research, Inc (July 2009) [Back]
14. US nuclear neighbours not nimby, World Nuclear News (21 August 2007) [Back]