Part 1 of 2 Parts:
It is interesting how natural disasters can prompt a wider discussion of technologies that might help the response to such disasters. In the past few weeks, there have been three devastating hurricanes that have hit Texas, Florida and islands in the Caribbean. Millions of people are lacking shelter, water, food, fuel and electricity. A panel discussion during National Clean Energy Week turned to how portable nuclear power generators could have helped the disaster response on the island of Puerto Rico.
During a panel, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Perry said, "I want to talk about an opportunity that we have right now. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are devastated. Maybe one of the most tragic events in recent history with the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico. 3.5 million Americans who are without electricity. We're trying to get micro generators down there. We're trying to get fuel down there. Wouldn't it make abundant good sense if we had small modular reactors that literally you could put in the back of a C-17 aircraft, transport to an area like Puerto Rico push it out the back end, crank it up, plug it in that could serve tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people very quickly. That's the type of innovation that's going on in our national labs."
This topic came up several more times during National Clean Energy Week panels. Charles Hernick of the Citizens for Responsible Energy was moderating a panel on innovation, research and development. He asked Marc Nichol, the senior project manager for a Nuclear Energy Institute program on new reactor development, small modular reactors and advanced reactors, to help the audience understand whether or not Secretary Perry’s proposal was really practical.
Nichol said that there were at least twenty different private companies working on new reactor designs. Some of the designs in development were for reactors that were much more flexible and smaller than current nuclear power reactors. Some of the new reactors are being designed for independent operation in small grids where the reactors could keep operating safely during disasters.
Following the panel discussions for National Clean Energy Week, Dr. Joe Romm who was a member of the Clinton Department of Energy wrote a blog post that was critical of the ideas that Secretary Perry expressed at his panel. He said, "Such small nuclear power plants are not expected to be commercialized until the mid-2020s, and even if they are, they are projected to be wildly expensive — just like current reactors — and not that small (650 tons). Nobody’s going to be “literally” putting one in a C-17 and pushing it out the back end on a small island ready to go. The U.S. territory doesn’t have time for such political pipe dreams."
Dr. Romm had an alternative suggestion for dealing with the aftermath of a natural disaster. He said, “Microgrids built around cheap renewable power and battery storage are now the fastest and cheapest way to restore power — while at the same time building resilience into the grid against the next disaster.”
The truth probably lies somewhere between Perry’s ideas and Romm’s response. Nuclear power plants that can be transported by air do not currently exist but they are expected to be available by the mid 2020’s. Secretary Perry never suggested that such systems are currently available. Romm was right in suggesting that future possible reactors will be of no help to Puerto Rico which needs electricity right now. He was probably wrong in suggesting that it will not be possible to build nuclear reactors that can be transported to a disaster zone by air.
Please read Part 2
