The story up to now: The world’s quest to decarbonise itself is guided, amongst different issues, by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 7: “to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. Since the world nonetheless is dependent upon fossil fuels for 82% of its vitality provide, decarbonising the ability sector is crucial; the share of electrical energy in last vitality consumption may even improve by 80-150% by 2050. The latest uptick in coal consumption in Europe, regardless of the rise in photo voltaic and wind energy, means that dependable, 24/7 low-carbon electrical energy sources are crucial to make sure the deep decarbonisation of energy era, together with grid stability and vitality safety. Small modular reactors – a kind of nuclear reactor – could be useful to India on this regard.
Challenges of decarbonisation
The transition from coal-fired energy era to scrub vitality sources poses main challenges for all international locations, and there’s a widespread consensus amongst policymakers in a number of international locations that photo voltaic and wind vitality alone won’t suffice to offer dependable and inexpensive vitality for everybody.
In decarbonised electrical energy techniques with a major share of renewable vitality, the addition of at the least one agency power-generating expertise can enhance grid reliability and cut back prices.
According to the International Energy Agency, the demand for crucial minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and uncommon earth parts, required for clean-energy manufacturing applied sciences, is more likely to improve by as much as 3.5x by 2030. This leap poses a number of world challenges, together with the big capital investments to develop new mines and processing amenities. The environmental and social impacts of creating a number of new mines and crops in China, Indonesia, Africa, and South America inside a short while span, coupled with the truth that the highest three mineral-producing and -processing nations management 50-100% of the present world extraction and processing capacities, pose geopolitical and different dangers.
Issues with nuclear energy
Nuclear energy crops (NPPs) generate 10% of the world’s electrical energy and help it keep away from 180 billion cubic metres of pure gasoline demand and 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions yearly. Any much less nuclear energy may make the world’s journey in the direction of net-zero more difficult and dearer. NPPs are environment friendly customers of land and their grid integration prices are decrease than these related to variable renewable vitality (VRE) sources as a result of NPPs generate energy 24×7 in every kind of climate. Nuclear energy additionally gives invaluable co-benefits like high-skill jobs in expertise, manufacturing, and operations.
This mentioned, standard NPPs have usually suffered from time and value overruns. As another, a number of international locations are creating small modular reactors (SMRs) – nuclear reactors with a most capability of 300 MW – to enhance standard NPPs. SMRs could be put in in decommissioned thermal energy plant websites by repurposing current infrastructure, thus sparing the host nation from having to amass extra land and/or displace individuals past the present web site boundary.
Advantages of SMRs
SMRs are designed with a smaller core injury frequency (the chance that an accident will injury the nuclear gasoline) and supply time period (a measure of radioactive contamination) in comparison with standard NPPs. They additionally embrace enhanced seismic isolation for extra security.
SMR designs are additionally easier than these of standard NPPs and embrace a number of passive security options, leading to a decrease potential for the uncontrolled launch of radioactive supplies into the atmosphere.
A diagram depicting a NuScale reactor.
| Photo Credit:
NuScale (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The quantity of spent nuclear gasoline saved in an SMR mission may even be decrease than that in a standard NPP. Studies have discovered that SMRs could be safely put in and operated at a number of brownfield websites that won’t meet the extra stringent zoning necessities for standard NPPs. The power-plant organisation can even undertake neighborhood work, because the Nuclear Power Corporation did in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, earlier than the primary unit was constructed.
SMRs are designed to function for 40-60 years with capability elements exceeding 90%. Since the first-of-a-kind SMR initiatives will likely be commissioned by 2030, the present capital prices for SMRs within the U.S. are about $6,000 per MW. The in a single day prices will come down quickly after 2030, particularly as soon as the numerous SMR initiatives which have already been ordered by European international locations come on-line by 2035.
The prices for India will decline steepest when reputed corporations with expertise in manufacturing NPPs, akin to BHEL, L&T or Godrej Industries, manufacture SMRs for India, and the world with expertise switch from overseas. This will permit zero-carbon nuclear energy to broaden by attracting “green” finance from the Green Climate Fund and worldwide traders, with out unduly burdening the federal government exchequer. This at the least was the rationale SMRs have been included within the U.S.-India joint assertion after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met U.S. President Joe Biden in June 2023.
Efficient regulation required
Accelerating the deployment of SMRs below applicable worldwide safeguards, by implementing a coal-to-nuclear transition at current thermal power-plant websites, will take India nearer to net-zero and enhance vitality safety as a result of uranium sources will not be as concentrated as reserves of crucial minerals. Most land-based SMR designs require low-enriched uranium, which could be equipped by all international locations that possess uranium mines and amenities for such enrichment if the recipient facility is working in response to worldwide requirements.
Since SMRs are largely manufactured in a manufacturing unit and assembled on web site, the potential for time and value overruns can also be decrease. Further, serial manufacture of SMRs can cut back prices by simplifying plant design to facilitate extra environment friendly regulatory approvals and experiential studying with serial manufacturing.
This mentioned, an environment friendly regulatory regime corresponding to that within the civil aviation sector – which has extra stringent security necessities – is necessary if SMRs are to play a significant position in decarbonising the ability sector. This could be achieved if all international locations that settle for nuclear vitality direct their respective regulators to cooperate amongst themselves and with the International Atomic Energy Agency to harmonise their regulatory necessities and expedite statutory approvals for SMRs based mostly on normal, common designs.
Looping in SMRs in India
India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) initiatives that the era capability of coal-based thermal energy crops (TPPs) in India have to be elevated to 259,000 MW by 2032 from the present 212,000 MW, whereas enhancing the era capability of VRE sources to 486,000 MW from 130,000 MW. Integrating this energy from VRE sources with the nationwide grid would require extra vitality storage – to the tune of 47,000 MW/236 GWh with batteries and 27,000 MW from hydroelectric amenities.
The CEA additionally initiatives that TPPs will present greater than half of the electrical energy generated in India by 2031-2032 whereas VRE sources and NPPs will contribute 35% and 4.4%, respectively. Since India has dedicated to grow to be net-zero by 2070, the nation’s nuclear energy output wants a quantum leap. Since the big investments required for NPP enlargement can’t come from the federal government alone, attracting investments from the non-public sector (in PPP mode) is necessary to decarbonise India’s vitality sector.
Legal and regulatory modifications
The Atomic Energy Act will must be amended to permit the non-public sector to arrange SMRs. To guarantee security, safety, and safeguards, management of nuclear gasoline and radioactive waste should proceed to lie with the Government of India. The authorities may even must enact a legislation to create an impartial, empowered regulatory board with the experience and capability to supervise each stage of the nuclear energy era cycle, together with design approval, web site choice, development, operations, certification of operators, and waste reprocessing.
The safety round SMRs should stay below authorities management, whereas the Nuclear Power Corporation can function privately-owned SMRs throughout the hand-holding course of.
The India-US ‘123 agreement’ permits India to develop a strategic reserve of nuclear gasoline to protect in opposition to provide disruptions. It additionally permits India to arrange a facility to reprocess spent gasoline from SMRs below safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). So the Indian authorities can negotiate with overseas suppliers to reprocess nuclear waste from all SMRs in a state-controlled facility below IAEA safeguards. The reprocessed materials might also be appropriate to be used in different NPPs in India that use imported uranium.
Finally, the Department of Atomic Energy should enhance the general public notion of nuclear energy in India by higher disseminating complete environmental and public well being information of the civilian reactors, that are working below worldwide safeguards, in India.
The writer is professor and dean, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.
