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Current and Future Prospects for Civilian Nuclear Power: U.S. and Japanese Perspectives

Speakers: Gregory B. Jaczko, commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Kenji Goto, minister for economy, trade, industry and energy at the embassy of Japan; Angie Howard, vice president and executive advisor to the president of the Nuclear Energy Institute; Takuya Hattori, president of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum; Thomas Cochran, director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council; Andrew Kadak, professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Jonathan Epstein, legislative fellow in the office of Senator Jeff Bingaman

Date & Time

Thursday
May. 8, 2008
3:00pm – 5:45pm ET

Overview

As keynote speaker for this May 8 event, Gregory B. Jaczko, Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), first noted that the NRC is currently in receipt of nine licensing applications for 15 new nuclear reactors. He explained that the NRC has changed its licensing process in a significant way. In essence, the agency used to require applicants to apply for a construction permit and, if granted, construct the plant before coming in to get the authority to operate that facility. The NRC has now reversed the order, so that today a licensee can apply for the authority to operate a plant before it has to commit to construct it. That has allowed the industry to bifurcate some of the financial risk, so that a utility can move forward with licensing without necessarily committing to build, as the cost of the licensing process is significantly lower than the cost of actual construction.

Jaczko emphasized that "the most important issue with nuclear power always comes down to safety." In Jaczko's view, safety is not a technical but rather a policy issue. The Atomic Energy Act gives the NRC its authority, but the language of the act only provides broad concepts on licensing and safety. The NRC also has a mission statement, which calls for a "reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety." In addition, in a post- 9/11 world, the NRC must take into consideration the increased potential of terrorist attacks against a nuclear power plant. Jaczko remarked that it would be useful to have a broader public debate over issues of nuclear security and safety.

Kenji Goto, minister for economy, trade, industry and energy at the Japanese embassy, remarked that there are currently 55 nuclear power plants in Japan, with two under construction and 11 more being planned. At present, he stated, nuclear power accounts for 30-40 percent of Japan's total power generation, and Japan wants to maintain this percentage well into the future. He pointed out that the United States and Japan signed the U.S.-Japan Joint Nuclear Energy Action Plan in April 2007, and called on the two countries to increase cooperation to better integrate their knowledge on nuclear energy.

Angie Howard, vice president and executive advisor to the president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, explained that there are currently 104 nuclear power plants in the United States, which account for 20 percent of all U.S. power generation. She claimed that the plants today operate at high rates of safety and efficiency, and that the United States will need 23 percent more electricity by 2030. She also stated that public support for nuclear power plants is growing, with 81 percent of the respondents of one survey agreeing that nuclear energy has an important role to play in the future.

Takuya Hattori, president of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, detailed Japan's nuclear energy policy as being comprised of the 2002 basic law on energy policy, the 2005 framework for nuclear energy policy, and the 2006 nuclear energy national plan. He stated that Japan needs to improve its capacity factor (the percentage of capacity actually used for the production of power) for nuclear power plants, noting that in this regard Japan is well below the world average. Another problem is the aging factor: the average age of a Japanese nuclear power plant is 20 years. Nevertheless, Japan has been building nuclear power plants without interruption for the past 40 years, on time and within budget. Thus, claimed Hattori, the United States and other countries could learn much from the Japanese model.

Thomas Cochran, director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, delineated both the benefits and costs of nuclear power. On the one hand, he said, nuclear power is a low carbon emitter; on the other, nuclear power increases the risks of nuclear proliferation and catastrophic accidents, and presents the problem of waste disposal. Cochran agreed that nuclear power plants in the United States today are highly efficient and are run reliably. However, he claimed that proposed power plants are so uneconomical that they are impossible to finance—unless the U.S. government steps in and pays the difference. Thus, alternatives such as co-generation and wind power should be a priority. In his opinion, the technologies being pushed by the Bush administration, such as fast-breeder reactors and sodium-cooled reactors, are failures. He characterized them as unreliable and unnecessary.

Andrew Kadak, professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), outlined the many types of reactors that are being researched for future deployment in the United States, including the ABWR, AP-1000 and the EPR. He stated the next election would be very important regarding the political future of nuclear power plants. He then described the various technologies that are being investigated at MIT, such as high temperature gas reactors, including a focus on pebble-bed reactors. If the pebble-bed technology proves to be viable, commented Kadak, it will greatly reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation. He indicated it would take at least 72,000 of the billiard ball-sized pebbles to make a nuclear device.

Jonathan Epstein, legislative fellow in the office of Senator Jeff Bingaman, said Senator Bingaman, who is chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, would like to see the industry take advantage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, noting the legislation provides for $18 billion in loan guarantees. He recalled that last June, there was a climate change debate, which concluded that at a carbon price of $45 per ton, nuclear power becomes attractive. The Senate's focus now, stated Epstein, is on the climate change bill, which he predicted will frame nuclear power issues for the next administration. He called the climate change bill "precedent-setting."

Drafted by Mark Mohr, Asia Program Associate
Reviewed by Kent Hughes, Director, Program on Science, Technology, American & the Global Economy
Approved by Robert M. Hathaway, Director, Asia Program. Ph: (202) 691-4020

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Indo-Pacific Program

The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region.   Read more

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