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I did not appreciate nuclear energy until I came to work in Finland for the ongoing construction of the first of its kind so called generation 3+ pressurized water reactor originally named as European Pressurized Reactor but has now gained the name internationally as Evolutionary Power Reactor or simply EPR.

Computer Model of EPR-Credit TVO

With the skyrocketing prices of fuels beyond one’s imagination and the environmentally costly coal-fired power plants and the unstable supply of energy from other options like wind, geothermal, etc, the option of nuclear energy is gaining momentum worldwide. I understand that most of the concerns against the nuclear power plants are the safety, disposal of radioactive materials and costs among others. But all of these are now taken care of in these new designs of nuclear plants by the developer of EPR, Areva NP and partners.

It can not be denied that the cost to put up a nuclear plant is a little higher but this is due to the need to use special materials, and to incorporate sophisticated safety features and back-up control equipment. But a study in 2005 by OECD showed that nuclear power had increased its competitiveness over the previous seven years. The principal changes since 1998 were increased nuclear plant capacity factors and rising gas prices. If you factor in the environmental costs such as greenhouse gases, carbon emissions from coal or fossil fuel generators then definitely nuclear powered plants has the advantage.The lifespan of an EPR is also much longer at 65years.

The Finnish study in 2000 also quantified fuel price sensitivity to electricity costs and concluded that doubling of fuel prices would result in the electricity cost for nuclear rising about 9%, for coal rising 31% and for gas 66%. These are similar figures to those from the 1992 OECD report. Gas prices have already risen significantly since the study, partly reflected in the 2003 figures above.

The OL3 project currently under construction has employed state of the art safety features including external threats like airplane crashing into the reactor, leaktight containment around the reactor, an extra container and cooling area if a molten core manages to escape the reactor and four redundant emergency cooling systems each capable of cooling down the reactor after shutdown. The waste disposal system of radioactive wastes in Finland is well taken cared of by putting it in a very tight casings of steel, copper, concrete, etc before embedding it in a granite bedrock at around 500 meters below the ground.

I strongly believed that the future of exponentially rising energy demand is on nuclear power. This is rather a complex subject to discuss but this is my personal view.