The $10 Billion Solution to Climate Change

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 05/23/16

Brian Dumaine, of Fortune Online, blogs that even if the world keeps rolling out solar panels and wind farms at the current, record rate, the chance of meeting our climate change targets remains thin. That is because China, India, and other parts of the developing world, including the U.S., while embracing renewables, are still building or burning hundreds of coal plants to produce cheap, reliable power without having to depend on the variability of the sun and wind. It is true that the developing world is also building dozens of nuclear plants to provide carbon free electricity, but these are old, light water designs that typically cost more than coal. If nuclear power is to truly replace coal in the developing world, it will have to be cheaper in the short and long runs. That is where advanced nuclear power comes in. At the Fortune Brainstorm E conference, held this week in Calif., a number of CEOs and investors gathered to discuss the outlook for 4th-generation nuclear power plants. What sets these plants apart is that they will be, according to their backers, cheaper and safer than our existing technology. Some, for instance, have modular designs (SMRs) or more simple cooling systems, which can reduce the cost. In some cases, advanced nuclear power plants will use 75% less construction material per megawatt produced, which will help make them more cost competitive with fossil fuels and renewables. The image of nuclear has been stagnant for 30 years. They are seen by many as big expensive projects, said Jessica Lovering, director of energy research at the Breakthrough Institute. There is nothing intrinsically expensive about nuclear. It depends on the technology and the regulatory environment, and financing ... Terrestrial Energy is using a molten-salt technology, which allows for a simpler and safer cooling system. Bill Gates TerraPower is using a traveling-wave reactor that runs on spent fuel. NuScale uses light-water technology (SMRs).