In the ten years after World War II, the US government had a keen interest in helping create a commercial nuclear power industry. Although there were military leaders and members of Congress who believed that nuclear technology should be carefully guarded and kept secret, many policy makers realized that other countries would quickly develop their own nuclear capabilities. An open leadership of the world into the atomic age therefore offered the opportunity not only to exercise political control over technical know-how, but also to benefit from the growth of the new industry.
One of the most famous public addresses given by President Eisenhower is his “Atoms for Peace” speech, which was given on December 8, 1953 at the General Assembly of the United Nations. In it he said: “The United States knows that peaceful power consists of nuclear energy, not a dream of the future; The ability – already proven – is here today. “Four years and ten days later, the Shippingport nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania began producing commercial electricity, making it the world’s first full-fledged nuclear power plant to operate exclusively in peacetime. It was built in 32 months at a cost of approximately $ 72.5 million and remained in service through October 1982.
From feast to famine
In the 1960s, there was utter optimism about the potential for nuclear power. The industry saw tremendous growth in the United States. Hundreds of nuclear power plants have been commissioned by utility companies of all sizes. By the mid-1970s, however, schedule delays and cost overruns on nuclear projects combined with slower growth in power demand resulted in many assets being canceled before groundbreaking or abandoned during construction. The fact is that no reactor ordered in the United States after 1973 has ever entered commercial operation.
During a presentation by the American Nuclear Society on March 26th, William D. Magwood IV, Director General of the Organization for Nuclear Energy, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), spoke about his time as Director of the US Department of Energy (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), a position commonly referred to as NE-1 by insiders. Magwood suggested that in the 1990s the government did more to harm than to help the nuclear industry.
“When I got into the Department of Energy, it was during a major transition. Bill Clinton had been elected president, and nuclear energy was not viewed very positively in those days, ”he said. “One of the very first actions the administration took was to start canceling nuclear research programs. They canceled the advanced liquid metal reactor program, the advanced gas reactor program, the space reactor program, and the integrated rapid reactor program – and that has been an amazing change for many people. The only program we had was the advanced light water reactor program, and that ended in the 1997 timeframe, ”said Magwood.
“When 1998 came, we actually had no research funding. It was really the first time in the history of nuclear energy that the DOE had no money. The position I was in when I was asked to take over the nuclear power post in 1998 was to start over – go from zero to something, ”he said. “And with a lot of help we were successful.”
Money makes all the difference
During Magwood’s tenure as director of the DOE’s nuclear program, which lasted until 2005, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was established and key initiatives such as the Generation IV International Forum and Nuclear Power 2010 were launched. The DOE programs have helped restart construction projects for nuclear power plants in the United States. Education was also increased under Magwood’s leadership, and nuclear technology programs were picking up in universities across the country.
Even so, Congress did not allocate huge sums of money to nuclear programs when Magwood left. “When I left, even after we crawled out of this hole, we were only up to $ 500 million or $ 600 million,” he recalled. That has changed significantly today. NE received $ 1,581,908,000 in funding in fiscal 2020 – the highest amount in history.
NE’s mission is “to advance the science and technology of nuclear energy to meet the energy, environmental and economic needs of the US”. One of NE’s goals is to help the industry unlock the potential of advanced technologies and drive innovation. It is therefore not surprising that much of its money in 2020 was used to fund research and development (R&D) programs. In particular, NE spent more than half of its budget on research and development in the fuel cycle, including accident-tolerant fuels. Research, development and demonstration of reactor concepts including advanced research and development for small modular reactors; and its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
Magwood said many people would be silent in the 1990s if nuclear power were offered as a solution to reducing carbon emissions. That has changed somewhat today, especially outside of the United States
“Globally, there is no stigma in the US related to nuclear power,” said Rita Baranwal, who served as NE-1 from July 2019 to January 2021, US looking to export their technology. “Perhaps Eisenhower’s vision of nuclear power, which” provides plenty of electrical energy in areas of the world where there is a lack of electricity, “will still come true. In this case, a large part of the credit should be used for DOE sponsored work. ■
– Aaron Larson is the editor-in-chief of POWER.
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