Why Nuclear Energy Is On The Verge Of A Renaissance
Why Nuclear Energy Is On The Verge Of A Renaissance
For some, nuclear power may conjure images of mushroom clouds or bring back memories of disturbing nuclear disasters like Chernobyle and Fukushima. But despite public fear around nuclear power, the technology has proved to be an emission-free, reliable way to produce large amounts of electricity on a small footprint. As a result, sentiments about the technology are beginning to change.
Both the U.S. government and private companies including X Energy, NuScale and, Bill Gates-backed, TerraPower are pouring money into developing, what they say will be smaller, safer nuclear reactors. CNBC visited Idaho National Laboratory to see the Marvel microreactor firsthand and learn what such developments could mean for the future of nuclear power.
After humankind discovered nuclear fission, the first applied use was the atomic bomb. The study of fission for electricity production came later.
In December 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his fateful Atoms for Peace speech, an impassioned plea to reconstitute the power of the atomic bombs dropped in World War II for a more noble cause.
“Against the dark background of the atomic bomb, the United States does not wish merely to present strength, but also the desire and the hope for peace,” Eisenhower told the United Nations.
Almost 70 years later, the tension between those end uses still underlies the space today.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, the United States dramatically increased its nuclear energy generation.
But the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and Chornobyl meltdown in 1986 changed the landscape, spurring fear that nuclear energy could not be controlled safely.
Since the 1980s, nuclear energy capacity and generation in the U.S. has largely stayed flat. Today, the country’s fleet of nuclear power reactors produces only 19% of the country’s electricity, according to the government’s Energy Information Administration.
In more recent times, the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan in 2011 — and earlier this year the capture of nuclear power plants in Ukraine by invading Russian forces — have added to public concerns.
But despite its fraught origin story and the psychological effect of high-profile accidents, nuclear energy is getting a second look.
That’s largely because nuclear energy is clean energy, releasing no greenhouse gasses. Meanwhile, the world is seeing more of the effects of climate change, including rising global temperatures, increased pollution, wildfires, and more intense and deadly storms.
“We need to change course — now — and end our senseless and suicidal war against nature,” Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said in Stockholm on Thursday.
“There is one thing that threatens all our progress. The climate crisis. Unless we act now, we will not have a livable planet,” Guterres said. “Scientists recently reported that there is a 50-50 chance that we could temporarily breach the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years.”
Watch this video for a dive into nuclear energy’s potential renaissance as a response to the growing crisis of climate change.
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Why Nuclear Energy Is On The Verge Of A Renaissance
Content
0.58 -> For some, the word nuclear
may conjure images of
3.22 -> mushroom clouds or bring
back memories of disturbing
5.97 -> nuclear disasters like
Chernobyl and Fukushima.
9.64 -> Today, fears over nuclear
safety are at the forefront
12.51 -> again as Russia's war on
Ukraine rages on.
15.59 -> The nuclear threat remains
present.
18.38 -> Russia has control of the
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power
20.7 -> plant in southeastern
Ukraine. This was after an
23.02 -> unprecedented attack on
that facility.
25.54 -> The nuclear weapons program
was the first atomic
29.24 -> program, and out of that
grew the application of that
33.33 -> technology, of the
splitting of the atom for
35.46 -> energy production, not for
destruction.
38.24 -> And so it's very difficult
to separate those two
42.27 -> things. And a lot of people
who are, for example,
45.6 -> concerned about nuclear
weapons and the
47.52 -> proliferation of nuclear
weapons and things like that
49.95 -> tend to be anti nuclear
reflexively as a function of
54.09 -> the connection between
those two things.
56.1 -> There's so much fear and so
much misinformation.
59.38 -> And I think even now our
media and TV like our
63.62 -> entertainment, it's a
convenient villain, I think
66.16 -> nuclear is, because it is
scary and radiation scary
69.05 -> and our industry hasn't
done a good job of talking
72.5 -> about that. Like how it's
okay to be scared, but
75.33 -> that's not the same thing
as dangerous.
77.31 -> Despite public fear around
nuclear power, the
79.63 -> technology has proved to be
an emission-free, reliable
82.32 -> way to produce large
amounts of electricity on a
84.57 -> small footprint. As a
result, sentiments about the
87.42 -> technology are beginning to
change.
90.57 -> Even Elon Musk has come out
as a vocal proponent of
93.15 -> nuclear power.
95.11 -> The United States derives
over 50% of its zero carbon
98.82 -> output for electricity from
its nuclear power plants.
103.32 -> And so there's been a lot
of money both at the state
106.12 -> level and now at the
federal level, for keeping
109.27 -> existing nuclear plants
open so that we continue to
113.39 -> retain that zero carbon
value.
115.65 -> And also a lot of money
going into what's called
117.91 -> 'the next generation of
nuclear power,' which is
120.36 -> smaller reactors that are
designed to be safer, and
124.88 -> cheaper and easier to
deploy.
128.21 -> CNBC visited Idaho National
Lab to see one of these next
131.37 -> generation nuclear
reactors.
133.39 -> What you're looking at is
called PCAT.
135.95 -> It's a full-scale prototype
of the Marvel reactor, and
139.74 -> the Marvel reactor would be
the first of its kind that
142.4 -> will be able to demonstrate
how we can really
145.4 -> miniaturize a nuclear
system into something that
148.26 -> is portable and
transportable.
160.75 -> There are 93 commercial
nuclear reactors at 55 sites
164.23 -> operating in the United
States, with 26 reactors in
167.28 -> some phase of
decommissioning. Only two
169.75 -> new reactors, at the Vogtle
plant in Georgia, are
172.18 -> currently under
construction.
174.01 -> Most of the historical
reactor development happened
176.33 -> in the 1950s, sixties and
early seventies.
180.13 -> This was at a time when our
energy demand was growing
182.7 -> very quickly, much more
quickly than it is now.
186.01 -> And sources of energy were
thought to be relatively
189.03 -> scarce.
189.81 -> All 93 of the nuclear
reactors operating
191.94 -> commercially in the U.S.
today are what are known as
194.37 -> light water reactors.
196.09 -> The most widely used fuel
for such reactors is
198.2 -> uranium, a common metal
mined from rocks all over
200.73 -> the world. The United
States imports the majority
203.38 -> of its uranium. Canada,
Kazakhstan and Russia are
206.43 -> among the nation's biggest
suppliers.
208.88 -> But in the wake of the war
in Ukraine, the United
210.87 -> States is urging domestic
producers to step up.
214.09 -> A light water reactor works
primarily by using fission
217 -> reactions to produce heat.
218.77 -> Nuclear fission occurs when
a heavy atom, like a uranium
222.35 -> atom, is bombarded with
neutrons or interacts with
225.59 -> with neutrons. These
particles interact with the
227.57 -> nucleus of a uranium atom
and makes it unstable.
231.39 -> It splits apart. When it
splits apart, it produces
234.06 -> large quantities of energy.
235.44 -> That energy release heats
up the coolant, which in
238.9 -> light water reactors is
water.
240.97 -> That heated water then
produces steam.
242.86 -> The steam turns a turbine,
which turns a generator,
245.09 -> which produces electricity.
247.29 -> Worldwide there are about
440 operational nuclear
250.01 -> reactors that are
responsible for supplying
251.99 -> around 10% of the world's
electricity.
254.73 -> The United States, once a
leader in building out
256.94 -> nuclear power plants, has
today fallen behind
259.46 -> countries like Russia and
China.
261.37 -> There were several accidents
which really affected the
265.12 -> public perception of
nuclear power.
267.67 -> The Three Mile Island
accident in 1979, the
271.46 -> Chernobyl accident in 1986,
and Fukushima in Japan in
276.85 -> 2011. There hasn't been
much construction of nuclear
280.36 -> power recently because of
the change in perception
284.26 -> after these accidents.
285.91 -> And also in the nineties,
the deregulation of the
289.94 -> energy markets in the
United States left nuclear
293.31 -> power competing with all
other kinds of energy on an
296.89 -> open market. And in those
markets, natural gas is
300.29 -> cheaper.
301.29 -> The sheer volume of money
which is required to build
304.61 -> large reactors in the
United States today and the
307.05 -> amount of time that it
takes is a significant
310.67 -> disincentive. Any utility
company is going to say, you
313.46 -> know what, it's a lot
easier for me to build a gas
315.25 -> plant. It's cheaper and
people don't care as much.
320.44 -> Aside from challenges around
public perception, costs and
323.2 -> construction time, another
often cited criticism is the
326.56 -> fact that nuclear power
plants produce radioactive
328.89 -> nuclear waste. Allison
Macfarlane specializes in
332.42 -> nuclear energy and nuclear
waste disposal and served as
335.48 -> chairman of the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory
337.24 -> Commission for two and a
half years.
339.28 -> Once the spent fuel comes
out of a reactor, it's very
342.88 -> hot, both radioactively and
thermally.
345.07 -> That material needs to be
placed in a pool where
348.87 -> there's active cooling,
water's actively circulated,
352.45 -> and that keeps that
material cool while some of
355.02 -> the initial radioisotopes
decay away.
358.11 -> And then it does get cool
enough, after about five
360.44 -> years, that you can remove
it from the pool and put it
362.76 -> in dry storage, which are
basically these concrete and
366.06 -> steel casks that sit on a
concrete pad and passively
369.57 -> cool the material.
370.96 -> But yes, that's a that's a
safe practice and it's a
373.75 -> standard practice all
around the world to do that.
377.14 -> In the U.S., nuclear waste
is stored at the nuclear
379.32 -> reactor facilities because
there's no national waste
381.64 -> repository. Plans to
establish such a repository
384.64 -> at Yucca mountain in Nevada
have been thwarted by local
387.32 -> and federal politics.
389.57 -> There are some countries
like France that also
392.04 -> reprocess spent nuclear
fuel.
394.09 -> It is possible to take used
fuel and process it, recover
397.96 -> the useful materials, the
remaining enriched uranium,
401.08 -> the other fissile material
such as some of the
403.06 -> plutonium, and that could
be used as fuel in future
405.77 -> reactors.
407.23 -> But that too is not a
perfect solution.
409.43 -> That costs a lot of money.
411.23 -> We won't do that in the
U.S.
412.68 -> because uranium is
plentiful and cheap.
416 -> Another common argument
against nuclear power is
418.2 -> that we already have other
renewables to help us
420.6 -> decarbonize.
421.86 -> Nuclear is a baseload power
source.
423.2 -> That means it runs all the
time.
425.16 -> For renewables to be used
all the time, you need to
429.15 -> have a huge build-out of
battery technology.
432.53 -> Right now, that doesn't
exist.
438.02 -> Nuclear power in the United
States has changed its
441.93 -> future, and its prospects
have changed quite
444.68 -> substantially over the last
2 to 3 years.
447.96 -> There were a number of
plants that were in line to
451.07 -> be shut down and some were
shut down.
453.15 -> But a number of states and
now the Biden administration
457.9 -> has made a determination
that you need those plants
461.44 -> and their zero carbon
electricity output in order
464.85 -> to meet the climate
objectives of the country
467.04 -> and also at the state
level.
469.58 -> The war in Ukraine has
disrupted energy markets in
471.88 -> Europe and reignited
conversations around the
474.39 -> need for countries to be
energy independent.
476.82 -> In the wake of Fukushima,
the German government made a
479.62 -> determination to shut down
all of their nuclear energy
483.25 -> and make themselves even
more dependent on Russian
486.55 -> natural gas.
488.21 -> Back in the U.S., one of the
plants scheduled to be
490.45 -> decommissioned is Diablo
Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
493.15 -> in San Luis Obispo,
California.
495.34 -> The state's last remaining
nuclear power plant has a
497.62 -> long history of
anti-nuclear protests.
500.71 -> Lately, there's been heated
debate on whether to extend
503.07 -> the plant's lifespan beyond
its planned 2025 retirement.
508.14 -> The reasons why nuclear
power plants are shut down
510.37 -> are often complicated and
typically come down to
512.7 -> political and economic
factors.
514.97 -> The two drivers for nuclear
are price and politics.
518.41 -> But one Diablo Canyon
employee says that the clean
520.67 -> energy produced by the
plant is still needed.
523.09 -> Part of the reason that the
closure of Diablo Canyon was
525.75 -> announced so early in 2016
with a nine year lead time,
531.21 -> was so that we could
prepare and get more clean
533.37 -> energy online so that when
we shut Diablo Canyon, we
536.81 -> could replace it with clean
energy and we just haven't
539.06 -> made much progress.
540.21 -> Heather Hoff has worked at
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power
542.59 -> Plant for over 18 years.
544.69 -> In 2016, she co-founded
Mothers for Nuclear, an
547.9 -> activist group that
supports the protection of
549.73 -> existing nuclear power
plants, as well as the
551.8 -> construction of new ones.
553.45 -> Still, Hoff says she
understands the reluctance
555.66 -> to embrace nuclear power.
556.9 -> And it's something that she
herself struggled with when
559.31 -> she started working at
Diablo Canyon.
561.67 -> My family was pretty nervous
about me working there, and
564.97 -> I was a little nervous as
well. I'd heard a lot of
567.94 -> stories, you know, of scary
things and just didn't
572.02 -> really know how I felt
about nuclear.
573.78 -> I spent the first probably
six years of my career there
576.91 -> asking tons and tons of
questions and eventually
580.8 -> kind of changed my mind
about nuclear and realized
583.9 -> that it was in really good
alignment with my
587.24 -> environmental and
humanitarian values.
589.83 -> Californians seem to be
changing their views, too.
592.21 -> A recent poll found that
44% of voters are in support
595.75 -> of building new nuclear
plants, compared to 37% who
599.15 -> oppose such a measure. But
that's not to say Hoff never
601.54 -> questioned her newfound
respect for nuclear power.
604.27 -> In March 2011, a
9.0-magnitude earthquake
607.76 -> struck off the coast of
Japan, triggering a tsunami.
611.12 -> Suddenly, the world had a
nuclear disaster on its
613.58 -> hands.
614.38 -> Brian, for the first time,
Japan declared an atomic
617.05 -> emergency at two nuclear
power plants and Japanese
620.1 -> officials say they have
lost control of two
622.36 -> reactors.
623.73 -> For any existing reactor.
625.6 -> What you need is to be able
to continue to pump the
628.61 -> coolant around the fuel so
that it doesn't get too hot
632.69 -> and then melt down. And
what happens is in
635.79 -> Fukushima, the electricity
went out.
638.47 -> And then in every reactor,
there's backup generation,
641.88 -> which is mostly diesel
fuel.
644.86 -> But the diesel generators
in Fukushima were on the
648.66 -> ground and were swamped by
the tsunami.
652.68 -> And so they weren't able to
keep the coolant pumping.
656.49 -> And so the fuel melted
down.
658.44 -> It's sitting at the bottom
of the reactor.
660.56 -> And then the explosions
that you saw was the build
662.49 -> up of hydrogen inside of
the reactor containment that
666.12 -> then blew.
666.74 -> I was actually in the
control room at Diablo
668.78 -> Canyon during the few days
when the Fukushima events
671.78 -> were unfolding.
673.38 -> And it was super scary.
676.09 -> And it's like my worst
nightmare as an operator,
679.39 -> you know, to be there and
think about these other
682.85 -> operators just across the
ocean from us and they don't
686.49 -> know what's going on with
their plant.
687.82 -> They have no power. They
don't know if people are
689.98 -> hurt. Some of what I was
hearing on TV and the media
692.84 -> was pretty scary.
693.88 -> But then, you know, like
when we actually learned
696.38 -> what was going on, it
wasn't as bad as I thought.
700.14 -> No one was actually hurt by
events that happened at the
702.54 -> plant, and that was really
surprising to me.
705.25 -> So I kind of went from
like, Oh my gosh, I'm going
708.05 -> to have to quit to like,
Oh, now I feel even more
711.78 -> strongly that nuclear is
the right thing to do.
715 -> Although there have been no
direct deaths attributed to
717.3 -> the Fukushima disaster
itself, over 160,000 people
721.32 -> were evacuated from their
homes as a result of the
723.6 -> tsunami and nuclear
incident.
725.62 -> About 41,000 have not yet
been able to return home.
728.82 -> Some experts predict that
it will take another 30
731 -> years to clean up the
Fukushima plant.
733.13 -> But there is some good
news. A 2021 report
736.32 -> concluded that the doses of
radiation that Fukushima
738.67 -> residents were exposed to
are such that future
741.52 -> radiation associated health
effects are unlikely to be
744.25 -> discernible.
747.24 -> After every major nuclear
accident, there has been a
751.75 -> regulatory response and the
industry in the United
755.27 -> States and around the world
has been required to make
758.75 -> changes, often substantial
changes, to their
762.97 -> facilities. We learned that
in the case of the Fukushima
767.26 -> accident, for instance,
that we've never planned for
769.94 -> more than one reactor to
meltdown at a site at a
774.66 -> time. Sites had
insufficient backup
777.81 -> capabilities in case more
than one reactor went down
780.68 -> at a time. And so all
reactors were required to
785.16 -> build up their capabilities
against natural hazards and
788.58 -> reevaluate natural hazards.
790.89 -> Experts say the 1986
Chernobyl accident was the
793.73 -> result of flawed reactor
design and inadequately
796.48 -> trained personnel.
Chernobyl is, to this day
799.46 -> considered the world's
worst nuclear disaster.
802.23 -> In many ways, it forever
altered the way nuclear
804.57 -> reactors are built and run.
806.44 -> What you see when you look
at it, any nuclear reactor
809.62 -> that's of the current
generation, is this big
812.84 -> curved concrete covering
over the reactor, what is
817.34 -> called the reactor vessel.
819.04 -> And so that didn't exist in
Chernobyl.
821.77 -> So when it melted down and
it spread a lot of
825.25 -> radiation, it was a
disaster.
829.53 -> Today, the industry is
working on another crop of
831.62 -> nuclear power reactors
known as advanced reactors.
834.77 -> Advanced reactors will have
very few refueling cycles.
838.95 -> It's going to have
extremely improved
840.66 -> economics. And the safety
pedigree has to be extremely
844.09 -> high to the point where
there are accident scenarios
848.02 -> that are not even possible.
849.72 -> Compared to conventional
light water reactors.
852.25 -> Advanced nuclear reactors
are designed to be simpler
855.2 -> and may use different fuel
types and coolants in order
857.83 -> to improve operational
performance and safety.
860.89 -> Among these advanced
nuclear reactors are molten
863.18 -> salt reactors, high
temperature gas reactors and
866.4 -> sodium cooled fast
reactors.
869.73 -> All of these technologies
are based on technological
873.21 -> concepts which were
developed in the early phase
876.18 -> of nuclear power. But
there's now a desire by
879.87 -> governments to try and
perfect them in a way that
883.31 -> we haven't been able to do
in the past.
885.64 -> For the past two years,
Yasir Arafat and his team at
888.64 -> Idaho National Laboratory
have been working on a
890.75 -> prototype of an advanced
nuclear reactor known as
893.3 -> Marvel. While the current
fleet of large nuclear power
896.87 -> reactors can each produce
upwards of 1,000 megawatts
899.82 -> of electricity, Marvel is
what is known as a
902.68 -> microreactor. As their name
suggests, microreactors are
906.42 -> much smaller in size and
operate at a much smaller
908.85 -> scale, producing less than
20 megawatts of electricity.
912.57 -> Though being a prototype,
Marvel will only produce
915 -> about 100 kilowatts of
electricity.
917.27 -> Instead of powering an
entire city.
919.48 -> A single microreactor can
be used to power a hospital,
922.26 -> military base or disaster
zone.
924.49 -> The advantage, Arafat says,
is that microreactors can be
927.29 -> manufactured at scale in
factories, significantly
930.3 -> cutting costs and
construction time.
932.94 -> Plus microreactors would
increase electric grid
935.09 -> resilience because if one
reactor goes down, it can
937.9 -> easily be swapped for
another. But use cases for
940.98 -> microreactors go beyond
electricity production.
943.7 -> A lot of the end customers,
they're not necessarily
945.77 -> looking for electricity,
but they're looking for
948.01 -> high-grade heat for
different applications,
950.97 -> running a chemical process
or industrial process, or
954.36 -> even using low-grade heat
for district heating.
957.41 -> This machine can actually
deliver both.
959.62 -> As for safety, Arafat points
to several features.
962.45 -> First, automation.
963.87 -> These systems are designed
to be self regulated, so you
966.8 -> don't require hundreds of
operators to run these.
970.13 -> You essentially would need
one or two just for
972.27 -> oversight, but they
wouldn't necessarily need to
975.36 -> control the system
manually.
977.77 -> Eventually, Arafat envisions
a system that won't require
980.52 -> any operators. Instead, the
reactor would be able to
983.45 -> self-regulate,
automatically adjusting to
985.61 -> the energy needs of the
power grid.
987.47 -> In case something does go
wrong, the systems would
989.62 -> also be equipped with
shielding.
991.23 -> There's going to be
extensive amount of
992.88 -> shielding around these
systems that actually not
996.46 -> only provides radiation
protection, but also
999.01 -> provides protection from
external weather conditions
1002.42 -> or manmade hazards.
1004.46 -> As opposed to water, the
Marvel reactor will use a
1007.2 -> sodium potassium eutectic
mixture coolant designed to
1010.24 -> more efficiently remove
heat from the reactor core.
1013.36 -> The fuel will also be
different.
1015.12 -> We're using a fuel called
uranium zirconium hydride.
1019.22 -> Why do we use this fuel?
1020.26 -> Because it actually has a
very strong safety pedigree
1024.42 -> that is inherent to the
physics of the material.
1027.79 -> So when the reactivity goes
up, the reactor
1030.16 -> automatically powers down
almost instantaneously.
1034.34 -> That allows us to design a
reactor that is extremely,
1037.61 -> extremely safe.
1038.7 -> Another characteristic of
Marvel's fuel is that it's
1040.95 -> more highly enriched than
the fuel used in
1042.68 -> conventional light water
reactors, meaning you need
1045.24 -> less of it and it does not
need to be swapped out for
1047.91 -> new fuel as often. But
there is a catch.
1050.82 -> The standard enrichment
level in a light water
1053.29 -> reactor is about 4% and
4.5% uranium.
1057.49 -> In an advanced reactor, it
needs to be closer to
1061.76 -> 19%-20%. And the challenge
you have is the
1066.38 -> International Atomic Energy
Agency has a standard that
1071.12 -> says any enrichment above
20% is weapons usable.
1076.5 -> And so everyone is aiming
for as close to 20% as they
1080.23 -> can get without going over
that limit, because nobody
1083.24 -> wants to be accused of
trying to proliferate
1085.63 -> nuclear weapons. And so the
development and creation of
1089.33 -> this high enrichment fuel
doesn't exist in the United
1093.07 -> States at the moment. We're
pouring money into these
1096.39 -> advanced reactor
development programs, and
1099.35 -> the fuel doesn't exist.
1101.38 -> But the U.S. government is
working on establishing a
1103.7 -> domestic supply chain for
advanced reactor fuel.
1107.12 -> As a prototype, Marvel is
not designed to be a
1109.09 -> commercial nuclear reactor.
1110.25 -> The whole purpose of this
machine is not to come up
1114.67 -> with a commercial system.
1116.29 -> It's to come up with a
system that can test new
1119.63 -> technologies to enable
commercial designs out
1123.18 -> there.
1124.08 -> Marvel is expected to be up
and running by the end of
1126.43 -> 2023.
1127.46 -> We have not really built a
new nuclear system, not just
1130.93 -> in the national lab here,
but as a nation for a few
1134.06 -> decades. So we are trying
to use the Marvel reactor
1137.77 -> not to go through the
design, development and
1140.61 -> demonstration, but also
invent, reinvent the process
1144.64 -> that lets us go there.
1146.36 -> Also on Idaho National
Laboratory's campus sits a
1148.95 -> large dome known as EBR-II.
1151.73 -> Originally the site of an
experimental sodium fast
1154.08 -> reactor, the dome is now in
the process of being
1156.56 -> refurbished to test the new
crop of microreactors.
1159.52 -> This dome is going to allow
us to work with private
1161.67 -> sector innovators to bring
their reactor technologies
1165.28 -> up to operation for the
first time.
1167.32 -> So we can remove fuel and
materials and test its
1171.02 -> performance and verify that
the performance of the
1173.99 -> materials and the fuels and
the reactors is going
1177.31 -> according to what we
expect, based on modeling
1179.84 -> and simulation and a lot of
testing that we do prior to
1183.09 -> starting up the reactor.
1184.58 -> The Defense Department and
companies like X-energy,
1187.07 -> NuScale and Bill
Gates-backed TerraPower are
1189.92 -> all slated to test reactors
at Idaho National Laboratory
1192.71 -> in the next decade.
1193.94 -> Our schedule on developing
and deploying these reactors
1197.43 -> makes us competitive
globally and offer solutions
1201.44 -> that China and Russia won't
be able to.
1203.5 -> To in addition to advanced
reactors, governments and
1206.47 -> private companies are
working on machines to scale
1208.78 -> and commercialize nuclear
fusion.
1211.31 -> Such a reaction produces
energy by fusing atoms
1213.71 -> together, instead of
breaking them apart.
1216.59 -> In theory, these devices
would produce more energy
1219.2 -> than they would consume
without expelling
1221.56 -> long-lasting radioactive
waste.
1224.21 -> A prototype of such a
fusion device.
1225.78 -> Called a Tokamak, is being
constructed in France as
1228.83 -> part of an international
effort called ITER.
1231.57 -> The project has so far cost
around $22 billion and is
1235.17 -> expected to be turned on in
2025.
1237.66 -> There are a lot of folks who
are skeptical of our ability
1241.04 -> to move forward and to
demonstrate in a manner
1243.33 -> that's timely relative to
climate change.
1246.48 -> But history counsels us to
be more hopeful because we
1249.5 -> have done this before and
we now have an enormous
1254.19 -> commitment from the federal
government, as well as the
1256.62 -> private sector, to go ahead
and do this again.
1259.33 -> To do it differently and to
do it better, but to do it
1262.21 -> with urgency that that our
situation demands.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfNgRc4sJt8