America’s push toward a new generation of nuclear power is taking shape with compact reactors being tested as officials seek to accelerate their deployment.
America’s push toward a new generation of nuclear power is taking shape in Idaho’s high desert, where compact reactors are being tested as officials seek to accelerate their deployment across the country.
Inside a facility known as DOME at Idaho National Laboratory, researchers are rigorously testing microreactors — small nuclear power systems that can be transported by truck, train or plane.
An internationally recognized expert on nuclear terrorism, safety and security says new nuclear reactors could become easy targets for terrorists. But the nation’s top nuclear security team says it’s ready to meet any future threat. (INL)“This is a huge moment,” said Brad Tomer, director of the National Reactor Innovation Center.
Microreactors can be fueled and sealed at a factory before being shipped to remote locations. Developers say the systems could provide power for years with little or no on-site maintenance.
Construction has also begun on small modular reactors, commonly known as SMRs. Those reactors are expected to be about one-third the size of traditional nuclear reactors while producing substantially more electricity than microreactors.
“We are absolutely unleashing American ingenuity and brilliance,” Tomer said.
The emerging technologies are central to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s effort to expand domestic nuclear power and maintain American leadership in the industry.
“We don’t want the nuclear future owned by the Russians and the Chinese,” Wright said. “We want the nuclear future exactly where the nuclear start came: the United States.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright at Idaho National Laboratory. (SOA)Concerns about nuclear security
The Union of Concerned Scientists warns that the effort may be moving too quickly.
“The approach is to go as fast as possible,” said Edwin Lyman, the organization’s director of nuclear power safety and an expert on nuclear terrorism, safety and security.
“There’s no question we’re moving down a path toward vulnerability,” Lyman said.
Much of Lyman’s concern centers on high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, a higher-enriched fuel expected to power advanced reactors. Lyman argues that the reactors could create attractive targets for terrorists.
“The material literally could become part of a nuclear device,” Lyman claimed.
Edwin Lyman / Union of Concerned Scientists. (WKRC)“With about a metric ton or less of HALEU, that material could be used to make a nuclear weapon with a yield that would not be insignificant,” he said. “Something that could be comparable to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
J’Tia Hart, director of Idaho National Laboratory’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Division, disputes that assessment.
“This is something that is not at all suitable in its form for weapons material,” Hart said.
Hart said advanced reactors and their fuels are being designed with security threats in mind. Protections could include pressure or containment vessels that are difficult to breach, as well as fuel compositions that are difficult to separate or disperse. Some fuels may also solidify if their containment is breached, she said.
Although the broader security plan is still being developed, Hart said it will rely on multiple layers of protection. Those measures are expected to combine engineered safeguards with more conventional security, including guards, gates and weapons.
“We’re not going to leave our critical infrastructure to just be left open and vulnerable,” Hart said.
J'Tia Hart / Idaho National Laboratory. (WKRC)Some details of the security protocols will remain classified or otherwise withheld for national security reasons.
“We would not promote a technology that we did not think we could secure,” Hart said.
Reactors designed with passive safety systems
Officials say the advanced reactors will also rely on what the industry calls passive safety systems.
That does not mean the reactors will be unattended. Instead, the systems are designed to shut down and remove excess heat without requiring immediate human intervention. Even if backup power is lost, the reactors are intended to remain cool and avoid the types of accident sequences associated with previous nuclear disasters.
The Energy Department recently announced that the first advanced reactor had reached criticality, an important step toward producing power.
An internationally recognized expert on nuclear terrorism, safety and security says new nuclear reactors could become easy targets for terrorists. But the nation’s top nuclear security team says it’s ready to meet any future threat. (INL)In this context, criticality means a reactor has reached a stable state in which it can sustain a controlled nuclear fission reaction. That reaction produces the heat needed to generate electricity.
Energy delivery from small modular reactors could begin as soon as next year.
Nuclear waste remains a challenge
Advanced reactors do not eliminate the question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel, but researchers are seeking answers.
After fuel rods are removed from a reactor, they are typically cooled in large pools of water for years. The spent fuel may later remain in wet storage or be transferred to concrete storage casks, including at locations away from reactor sites.
Researchers are working on methods to reprocess and recycle spent fuel to reduce the amount of nuclear waste and make the remaining material safer for long-term storage.
Where the reactors could be deployed
Microreactors could be sent to military bases, isolated communities and natural disaster areas, where they could replace diesel generators and provide considerably more power.
Small modular reactors could provide electricity for communities and energy-intensive facilities such as data centers. Their smaller footprint could also make them less visually prominent than conventional nuclear plants with massive cooling towers.
The Energy Department is separately considering Utah, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana and Idaho as potential locations for what it calls “nuclear lifecycle innovation campuses.” The proposed campuses are intended to strengthen and modernize the nation’s nuclear fuel cycle.
