Pedraza opined in June, 2013 that, undoubtedly, energy production and their sustained growth constitute a relevant factor for ensuring the economic and social development of any country. Considering the different available energy sources that the world can use to satisfy the foreseeable increase in energy demand in the coming years, particularly for the production of electricity, at least for the next decades there are only a few realistic options available to reduce further the CO2 emissions, to satisfy the foreseeable demand of electricity, and to have a secure supply of energy.
One of these options is the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation. If this is true, then, why the public opinion of several countries is against the use of this type of energy sources? One of the reasons is the negative impact of an accident at a nuclear power plant for the human beings and for the environment. The second reason is the possible military uses of certain nuclear installations used for the generation of electricity. The third reason is the nuclear waste generated by nuclear power plants.
To reduce to the minimum the possibility of a nuclear accident it is important to maintain and enhance the safe and reliable operation of the nuclear power reactors. This is an essential priority in the development of a new generation of this type of reactors. Three generations of nuclear power reactors have been used for the production of electricity until now; a four generation is under development by a group of countries.
The first generation (Generation I) was advanced in the 1950s and 1960s in the early prototype of nuclear power reactors. The second generation
(Generation II) began in the 1970s in the large commercial nuclear power plants; some of these reactors are still operating today. The third generation (Generation III) was developed in the 1990s with a number of evolutionary designs that offer significant advances in safety and economics, and a limited number of this type of reactor has been built, primarily in East Asia. Advances to Generation III are underway, resulting in several (so-called Generation III+) near-term deployable nuclear power reactors that are actively under development and are being considered for deployment in several countries. The European Pressure Reactor (ERP) produced by France is of this type.
New nuclear power reactors built between now and 2030 will likely be chosen from these new types of nuclear power reactors. Beyond 2030, the prospect of innovative advances through renewed research and development has stimulated interest worldwide in a fourth generation of nuclear energy
systems (Generation IV).
Ten countries have joined together to form the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) to develop future-generation nuclear energy systems that can be licensed, constructed, and operated in a manner that will provide competitively priced and reliable energy products while satisfactorily addressing nuclear safety, nuclear waste, proliferation, and public perception concerns. The objective for Generation IV nuclear energy systems is to have them available for international deployment about the year 2030, when many of the world’s currently operating nuclear power reactors will be at or near the end of their operating licenses.
The author concluded that one of the available energy sources for the generation of electricity that has proved that can supply the power that a country need at any time, in the amount desired, in a clean manner, and when is required, is nuclear energy. However, the use of nuclear energy for the generation of electricity is not an easy and cheap option and in some countries faces a strong rejection of the public opinion. From the technological point of view, the use of nuclear energy for the generation of electricity could be very difficult alternative for many countries, particularly for those with a weak technological development, limited financial resources, lack of qualified personnel and relative small electrical grid.
Most of the advanced nuclear power reactor designs available today are evolutionary improvements on previous designs. These evolutionary designs
generally require little further research and development or confirmatory testing. In the longer term, more innovative designs that incorporate radical
changes and promise significantly shorter construction times and lower capital costs could help to promote a new era of nuclear power reactors, particularly
after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
It is important to stress that the majority of the nuclear power reactors today in operation in the world are from the second generation of nuclear power reactors built in the 1970s. However, most of the countries expanding their nuclear power programs are constructing nuclear power reactors of the
third generation, which are more reliable and with a number of built-in safety features. Advances to third generation of nuclear power reactors are underway, resulting in several near-term deployable plants that is actively under development and are being considered for deployment in several countries
such as France, China and Finland, just to mention a few ones.
New nuclear power reactors to be built between now and 2030 will likely be chosen using this type of reactor design (Generation III +). Undoubtedly, the future belongs to the fourth generation of nuclear power reactors (Generation IV). This new generation of nuclear power reactors is a revolutionary type of reactors with innovative fuel cycle technologies. In addition to innovations designed to achieve improved fuel efficiency, there are other issues which require innovative approaches, including high temperature applications and designs for isolated or remote locations.
The Generation IV system designs are very different from older systems and also present different challenges that need to be solved in the ongoing research and development programs in order to have all, or at least most of them, available in the market as soon as possible.
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