The Future of Nuclear Power
A 20-year deal between Russia and the United States has just been completed with the last transfer of blended uranium. The deal, known as the “megatons-to-megawatts” program, was agreed upon 20 years ago when Russians agreed to dismantle its 40,000 nuclear warheads and blend them from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU).
At the time the deal was signed, Russia’s economy was in shambles which allowed the US to import uranium for its nuclear reactors at a dumping price.
Now, some analysts question where US policymakers are going to go from here. Unless new measures are adopted, supplies of uranium are going to dwindle and prices will go up. The reason for this is two-fold. First, Russia is now poised to continue blending uranium and exporting it to the world at market value. Second, countries like China and India are increasing their capacity for nuclear power, increasing the demand for uranium.
However, there are several developments underway that ensure a steady supply of uranium to meet our energy demands. First, the increasing price of uranium may entice new entrants into domestic uranium mining. They would tap into the world’s fourth largest uranium reserves.
Moreover, a new agreement has been reached the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) and Russia’s Techsnabexport (TENEX) which will allow USEC to continue purchasing uranium fuel from Russia for power producers in the US.
Some have called for the reprocessing of spent fuel to alleviate a potential shortage of uranium. This process would take the leftover waste, and reprocess it for more reactor fuel. More than 30 percent of spent nuclear fuel can be reprocessed. However, such techniques pose a problem for proliferation because reprocessed fuel could be converted into plutonium.
But an interdisciplinary report, produced by the MIT Energy Initiative, finds that a type of breeder reactor, an enriched uranium-initiated breeder reactor, could resolve uranium shortages and the problems of reprocessing. It would add natural or depleted uranium to the reactor core at the same rate nuclear materials are consumed, making an efficient fuel cycle that does not produce weapons grade waste.
In the past couple decades, and even within the last few years, nuclear technology has made great strides. It can supply a growing share of our energy needs while avoiding harmful carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Old arguments against nuclear power don’t stand up to the facts of today.
