Coming to a Nuke Plant Near You
What you see here in the background is a concept drawing of a proposed combined-cycle natural gas plant to be located in Crystal River, FL. It will be built right next to and cover the energy shortfall for CR3, Crystal River’s decommissioned nuclear plant (you can see the cooling towers further back for the old plant).
The last time the US built a nuclear reactor was in the early 1970s, the last groundbreaking in 1974. At present time, there are 62 operating nuclear power plants — a combination of pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors. It was 63 up until 2010 when CR3 (my hometown’s own nuclear reactor) was taken offline for maintenance. An inspection of the plant’s outer-containment dome in 2010 revealed “delamination” cracks in the 42 inch concrete walls – the last line of defense in radiological release. After two years of deliberation and continued maintenance issues Duke Energy finally announced in February, 2013 the nuclear plant will never reopen.
Right now, nuclear power is about 19% of the power generation in the US. Current strategies will keep this steady but since our nuclear infrastructure is already 40 years older or older, how long will this last? There have been many ups and downs in nuclear power’s battle for social capital; as soon as traction is gained , another significant negative event happens and shifts it right back — the most recent and powerful example being Fukushima.
The energy sector is arguably the most critical infrastructure in the US, especially considering the increased dependence of other infrastructure systems on it. This is a priority for the Department of Homeland Security which has established the Energy Sector-Specific Plan to set a strategy to ensure “a robust, resilient energy infrastructure.”
What will it look like in the future? To the left is a concept nuclear power plant site, but is this what we should expect? Will it continue to be large power generation sites or will it become more distributed? One obvious vulnerability in the energy sector is simply moving power around the country. Some sections of the national power grid are admittedly very weak. Furthermore, how will a shift to incorporate more renewable energies like wind and solar affect the energy landscape?
These are all variables in the 50 year future of energy. How they play out will greatly affect population distribution, energy and resource consumption, and energy sector security. I desperately hope we see technological advancements that render some of these conversations moot, but regardless, I expect nuclear power will continue to play a large role in power generation.
So why the concern with the Crystal River Plant?
Well, to drive awareness of energy sector changes with an authentic example! This example in particular touches close to home, and I know how interested Crystal River is in the future of this project. But does the average American keep up with changes in the energy sector, should they? The energy generation gap from the shutdown of CR3 is not expected to affect the surrounding grid. For the interim, other plants will cover the loss. The long term fix includes a proposal to build a combined cycle natural gas plant. This has already been forwarded to the country and all signs are pointing to approval. You can see below the actual design to be used (a bit clearer than the background picture. Also, please visit this site to learn more about these fairly impressive newer style natural gall power plants).
Personally, this is great news: My father is actually the Senior Project Manager for this build. This is a huge deal, he has spent the past couple years reviewing and approving the design as well as routing it through the leadership channels at Duke Energy. He will be doing his part to make the energy sector a little more resilient. I enjoy the benefits of witnessing another large scale build (this isn’t his first power plant construction). I also get second hand insights into interesting aspects of major energy projects such as: large scale commercial supply chain concerns, power generation and transmission processes, state of the art construction systems, cost and value of redundancy, and fuel alternatives for power generation.
However, the reality of a stalled nuclear energy sector is not lost on me or my dad. He had the foresight to see it coming long ago and instead of staying only in that field, he took the time to gain experience in other energy generation modes. We would both like to see another attempt at a nuclear power renaissance!
In the past 40 years, we have come a long way in nuclear power generation. Fukushima should remind us of the need for caution, but not serve to squash nuclear innovation. Avoided in this piece is the byproducts of energy generation and how heated (pun intended) these debates can get in the political and social environment. However, if we continue to allow research and development in nuclear solutions though, we may be able to run solely off of our nuclear waste until 2083!
