May-June 2018 NPJ

Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2018 NuclearPlantJournal.com 29 Developing advanced reactors is about more than just the price of electricity; we’ll also need markets that value all that nuclear delivers, and we’ll need good management and planning by the regulators. And we hear encouraging things from the NRC. At its annual public conference in March, the commission chair, Kristine Svinicki, said her agency would develop new processes to review and approve reactors other than the familiar light water models. And a thriving American nuclear industry is about more than just reactors in the United States. We are encouraged by the vigor with which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is pursuing nuclear power. The Kingdom has a growing demand for electricity, and it will continue to grow. The Saudis don’t want to burn oil for electricity or to make potable water, because the want to continue to export it. Given the continued electrification of Saudi society, the clear solution is nuclear power, a route already embraced by the Saudis’ neighbors in the United Arab Emirates. The Saudis plan to procure both new large nuclear reactors as well as smaller advanced designs. There is an international competition to supply technology and expertise to Saudi Arabia. We thank the administration for helping keep the U.S. in the running. It opens up the opportunity for the United States to form a century-long relationship, rather than with Russia or China. Another growing segment of the international market is the United Kingdom, which has limited supplies of natural gas and a national commitment to reduce emissions of carbon. The UK is looking at multiple designs from U.S. vendors for both large and smaller applications. These include GE, NuScale and Westinghouse. The Westinghouse AP1000 reactor is one of four designs under consideration for large reactors. The Chinese and the French also are competing in this market. The export market is growing and our success there will strengthen the U.S. supply chain and its support of the existing U.S. fleet. Where does all of this leave us? We need a healthy domestic nuclear industry, to keep the lights on, to keep air pollution in check, to keep thousands of people in good-paying, year-round jobs, to keep municipal budgets funded, to keep our expertise base that helps us with exports in a global market. And in places that have carbon emission goals, nuclear is essential to meeting them. But most of all we need to recognize what we’ve got and not let it slip away through incremental decisions, or careless decisions, that take us in directions we’ll regret later on. We need to make choices that will sustain the fleet, help us innovate, and thrive. We are an essential component of a clean, diverse, resilient grid. Our challenge is to spread that message in the state capitols, among the grid operators, to the lawmakers here in Washington and to the country as a whole. We can make the right choices that will benefit all of us, here and around the world. Contact: Nuclear Energy Institute, 1201 F Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C.; telephone: (202) 739-8010. Imagination power. We’re partnering with visionary owners to deliver the power that energizes the world. The nuclear power industry demands a highly specialized, diverse skillset and knowledge base. As the engineer and/or constructor of more than 39,000 megawatts, we provide support for new nuclear technologies, the small modular reactor market, operating plant technical services including major component replacements, facilities that support the nuclear fuel cycle, and D&D for facilities no longer in use. Learn what our 60 years of nuclear experience can do for you at aecom.com or email power@aecom.com