Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States (2023) / Chapter Skim
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, showing improved cost metrics that are competitive with other low-carbon power generation technologies, improving construction and project management compared to current LWR builds, obtaining timely regulatory approval, gaining societal acceptance in host communities, and responding to security and safeguard obligations. Because demonstrations of advanced nuclear designs are not expected until the late 2020s or early 2030s, it may be difficult for new nuclear technologies to contribute significantly until the next few decades.
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REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES Some advanced reactors differ from LWRs used for power production today in terms of size, neutron spectrum, coolant, fuel type, fuel enrichment, and/or outlet temperature. The various advanced reactors under development are at different levels of technological maturity and therefore must confront different technology gaps before wide-scale deployment.
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Regulatory reforms, including to wholesale electricity markets, could better capture the value that advanced nuclear reactors could contribute to electricity system reliability and resilience. CONTROLLING COSTS The up-front financing costs for developing nuclear reactors are currently higher than those for other energy technologies because of large capital requirements, extended development timelines, and limited financing options.
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Widespread commercial deployment of nuclear reactors will occur only if nuclear power projects can convincingly demonstrate that they can compete in a marketplace with alternatives. Recommendation 4-4: To enable a cost-competitive market environment for nuclear energy, federal and state governments should provide appropriately tailored financial incentives (extending and perhaps enhancing those provided recently in the Inflation Reduction Act)
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funding for advanced construction technologies R&D is small in comparison to the hundreds of millions spent on nuclear island technology research, more should be done over an extended period to research technologies that may streamline and reduce costs for this work. DOE should expand its current efforts in R&D for nuclear construction and make these advanced technologies broadly available, including to vendors participating in the the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Risk Reduction and ARC20 programs.
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Moreover, establishing the safety case for an advanced reactor will require a thorough verification of safety claims based on detailed analyses founded on experimental data. While the NRC must maintain its overriding commitment to safety, the regulatory process should be made as efficient and flexible as possible if advanced reactors are to be commercialized in the coming decades.
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government will need to better equip itself to swiftly negotiate and implement more arrangements for nuclear cooperation with existing and emerging nuclear countries. Although it is not anticipated that significant modifications of export regulations are required to accommodate advanced reactor designs, efforts to increase international harmonization could greatly improve options for export financing.
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