Part 2 of 3 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
Chudakov specified seven influences that he thinks are important to support nuclear power which include safety, funding, electricity markets and nuclear policies, innovation in reactors and fuel cycles, managing waste, capacity building and public acceptance. In his presentation, he said that he wanted to show how these different factors will impact whether future growth of nuclear power will follow the IAEA’s low or best case projections.
Safety:
With respect to safety, he said “Of course, we can stop talking about safety, but we can’t prevent people asking us about safety and they have the right to. The safety performance of nuclear installations is crucial to the future of nuclear power, as a strong safety record is essential for its public acceptance.”
Chudakov said that ways to improve safety include the following. The IAEA has a mission to help synchronize safety protocols across all one hundred and seventy of its member states. Sharing of operational experience will provide more open access to information. Emergency preparedness policies must be developed to provide better exchange of technical information. There should be drills that simulate severe accidents to make more use of IAEA and other bodies of international experience. A management and safety culture must evolve which makes use of multilateral cooperation.
Chudakov said, “The more we share our operating experience, the better our resilience to events will become. Fukushima has demonstrated to us that we need to be joined-up when responding to significant events in our industry, we can do this by improving our exchange of technical information around the plants, but we need to continue identifying areas where we all have to work harder.”
Funding:
With respect to funding nuclear power, financing is required at multiple points in developing or expanding a national nuclear energy program. One major requirement is the establishment of a nuclear regulatory body. There are also requirements that financing be secured to cover decommissioning and waste management. Growth of nuclear power is being heavily impacted by the decline in the prices of natural gas and the deployment of big renewable energy project. There are big variations in demand for electricity between members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and non-members. The lack of a meaningful way to price carbon dioxide release is also a problem.
Chudakov said, “Yes, financing new nuclear build is challenging, but new ways of thinking have produced new ways of finding money. We see this in Turkey, in Finland, in the UAE, in the UK. But the underlying question is: How can governments create more enabling conditions so that nuclear can be more affordable?”
Electrical Markets and Nuclear Policy:
The answer to Chudakov’s question about financing is closely connected to electricity markets and nuclear policies. Newcomers need to be supported and brought into synchronization with experienced nuclear operators. A nuclear power plant must be carefully managed for the over sixty years of projected operation.
Please read Part 3