SLIDE 1

The Advantages of Nuclear Power in a Carbon Constrained World

April 27, 2009

Roger Bloom

rbloom@kentlaw.edu

SLIDE 2

Agenda

1. History & Background

2. Fears & Myths

3. Protecting the Environment

4. Can we get there from here?

SLIDE 3

Section 1

History & Background

SLIDE 4

Nuclear Timeline

• 1942 December 2. The first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

• 1945 July 16. The first atomic bomb test.

• 1945 August 6. The atomic bombs are dropped on Japan ending WWII.

• 1953 December 8. Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech before the UN.

• 1954 August 30, Eisenhower signs the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

• 1957 September 2. The Price-Anderson Act provides financial protection to the public.

• 1957 December 2. The world’s first large-scale nuclear power plant begins operation.

• 1959 October 15. Dresden-1 Nuclear Power Station in Illinois achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction.

SLIDE 5

Nuclear Timeline

• 1971 Twenty-two commercial nuclear power plants are in full operation in the U.S. They produce 2.4 percent of U.S. electricity at this time.

• 1973 U.S. utilities order 41 nuclear power plants, a one-year record.

• 1974 The first 1,000-megawatt-electric nuclear power plant goes into service –Commonwealth Edison's Zion 1 Plant.

• 1977 April 7. President Jimmy Carter announces the United States will defer indefinitely plans for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

• 1979 March 28. Three Mile Island nuclear power station accident.

• 1979 Seventy-two licensed reactors generate 12 percent of the electricity produced commercially in the United States.

• 1983 January 7. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) establishes a program to site a repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

• 1984 The atom overtakes hydropower to become the second largest source of electricity, after coal.

SLIDE 6

• 1986 April 26. Operator error causes two explosions at the Chernobyl No. 4 nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union.

• 1989 One hundred and nine nuclear power plants provide 19 percent of the electricity used in the U.S.; 46 units have entered service during the decade.

• 1989 April 18. The NRC proposes a plan for reactor design certification, early site permits, and combined construction and operating licenses.

• 1991 One hundred and eleven nuclear power plants provide 22 percent of the electricity used in the U.S.

• 1992 October 24. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 is signed into law. The Act makes several important changes in the licensing process for nuclear power plants.

• 2002 House of Representatives approves Yucca Mountain as final disposal site for spent nuclear fuel.

• 2005 The Energy Policy Act is passed.

Nuclear Timeline

SLIDE 7

Highlights of Nuclear Energy Provisions in the Act

Nuclear Timeline

Price-Anderson Act Renewal

Loan Guarantees for New

Nuclear Plants

Production Tax Credits For New Plants

Standby Support for New Reactor Delays

Nuclear R&D,

Hydrogen Projects

Decommissioning Tax

SLIDE 8

Nuclear Power Plant

Locations

SLIDE 9

How Nuclear Power

Plants Work

PWR Plant Design

SLIDE 10

How Nuclear Power

Plants Work

BWR Plant Design

SLIDE 11

How Nuclear Power

Plants Work

SLIDE 12

How Nuclear Fuel

Is Made

Uranium must undergo four processing

steps to convert it from an ore to solid ceramic fuel pellets:

1) mining and milling

2) conversion

3) enrichment

4) fabrication

SLIDE 13

How Nuclear Fuel

Is Made

One uranium fuel pellet provides as much

energy as one ton of coal, 149 gallons of oil or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas

SLIDE 14

Section 2

Fears & Myths

SLIDE 15

“New nuclear power plants are unlikely to provide a significant fraction of future U.S.

needs for low-carbon energy” National Resources Defense Council – “The Earth’s

Best Defense” 02/2007

No new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States. "We may

not need any, ever," Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission. 4/22/09

"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing

the climate crisis.” Nuclear Information and Resource Service

“Nuclear power undermines the real solutions to climate change by diverting

urgently needed investments away from clean, renewable sources of energy and

energy efficiency.” Greenpeace International 01/2009

Fears & Myths

SLIDE 16

Fears & Myths

Top issues driving the anti-nuclear movement:

• Three Mile Island / Chernobyl

• Safety / Terrorists

• Nuclear Waste / Radiation Exposure

SLIDE 17

Fears & Myths

Three Mile Island / Chernobyl

Accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, though serious events, led to significant improvements in nuclear plant safety.

SLIDE 18

Fears & Myths

Apart from Chernobyl, no nuclear workers or members of the public have ever died as a result of exposure to radiation due to a commercial nuclear reactor incident.

SLIDE 19

Safety

Nuclear energy is safe and secure.

Strict government regulations, continuous training by the industry, and

enhanced security measures have combined to ensure safety insideand outside of the nations’s nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants

are designed and operated safely, with multiple back-up safety systems, including automatic shutdowns.

SLIDE 20

Safety

The nation’s nuclear power plants are among the safest and most secure industrial facilities in the United States.

SLIDE 21

Nuclear Waste / Radiation Exposure

Used nuclear fuel is a solid material safely stored at nuclear plant sites. This is one part of an integrated used fuel management system.

Managing Used

Nuclear Fuel

SLIDE 22

Managing Used

Nuclear Fuel

Nuclear power plants produce relatively little waste

SLIDE 23

Managing Used

Nuclear Fuel

The U.S. government has a legal obligation to manage reactor fuel and plans

to dispose of this material at a specially designed repository at Yucca Mtn.

SLIDE 24

Radiation Exposure

Ionizing Radiation Exposure to the Public

SLIDE 25

Section 3

Protecting the Environment

SLIDE 26

Nuclear Energy is Clean Energy

Nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment - including air,

land, water, and wildlife - of any energy source. It produces no harmful greenhouse

gases, isolates its waste from the environment, and requires less area to produce the

same amount of electricity as other sources.

Clean Energy

SLIDE 27

Clean Energy

Sources of Electricity

SLIDE 28

Sources of Emission-Free Electricity 2007

Clean Energy

SLIDE 29

Emission Avoided by U.S. Power Industry 2007

Clean Energy

SLIDE 30

Nuclear power is the lowest-cost producer of baseload electricity.

What about cost?

SLIDE 31

Nuclear power is the lowest-cost producer of baseload electricity.

What about cost?

No new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the

United States. "We may not need any, ever … I think

baseload capacity is going to become an anachronism,"

Jon Wellinghoff, FERC chairman in The New York Times.

“Today, many observers consider coal and nuclear power to

be the only reliable future sources of base-load power.”

Fred P. Bosselman, Professor of Law Emeritus in NYU

Environmental Law Journal article, The Ecological

Advantages of Nuclear Power.

SLIDE 32

The U.S. will need nearly 300 new power plants by 2030.

What about demand?

SLIDE 33

Some say the demand could be as high as 45% by 2030. How is this Demand Met?

Using today’s current ratios, a 45% demand increase for electricity would need to be met by building:

– 66 Nuclear Reactors– 277 Coal-fired Plants– 147 Natural Gas Plants– 93 Wind Farms

What about demand?

SLIDE 34

Section 4

Can We Get There From Here?

SLIDE 35

We Can’t Get There From Here

Political will and a price on CO2 won't be enough to bring about low carbon energy sources.

“Even if we scale up existing technologies to mind-bending levels, such as finishing one nuclear plant every other day for the next 40 years, we'll still fall short of how much low-carbon energy will be needed to keep atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide below what scientists now recognize as the point of no return.”

Is it Possible?

SLIDE 36

One SolutionAdvanced Reactor Design

● One Stop Licensing

● New Passive Systems

● Simplified Design

● More Fuel Efficient

Is it Possible?

SLIDE 37

• One Stop Licensing

Combined License (COL) - New

Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) for Construction License - Old

Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) for Operating License - Old

• Passive Safety Systems - NEW

Less power operated equipment

Lower power required to operate safety systems

Reduced construction cost

Reduced surveillance testing (lower O&M costs)

Advanced Reactors

SLIDE 38

Old New

Advanced Reactors

SLIDE 39

**

50% Fewer

Valves

35% Fewer

Safety Grade

Pumps

80% Less

Pipe

45% Less

Seismic Building

Volume

85% Less

Cable

Simplification of Design Eliminates Components and Reduces Cost

****

50% Fewer

Valves

35% Fewer

Safety Grade

Pumps

80% Less

Pipe

45% Less

Seismic Building

Volume

85% Less

Cable

Simplification of Design Eliminates Components and Reduces Cost

Advanced Reactors

SLIDE 40

How should the U.S. meet this demand?

There is no single solution, but new nuclear plants are a necessary part of the portfolio if we plan to meet growing demand and reach green house gas reduction emission targets.

Conclusion

SLIDE 41

Owner Location COL APP No Units Type

NRG Energy South Texas 11/29/2007 2 ABWR

TVA/NuStart Bellefonte, AL 1/18/2008 2 AP1000

Constellation (UniStar) Calvert Cliffs, Maryland 1/25/2008 1 EPR

Dominion North Anna, VA 1/28/2008 1 ESBWR

Duke South Carolina 2/25/2008 2 AP1000

Entergy/NuStart Grand Gulf, MS 4/17/2008 1 ESBWR

Southern Vogle, GA 5/30/2008 2 AP1000

SCE&G V. C. Summer, SC 7/31/2008 2 AP1000

Progress Florida 10/6/2008 2 AP1000

Exelon Victoria County, Texas 10/29/2008 2 TBA

Detroit Edison Fermi, MI 11/25/2008 1 ESBWR

Luminant Power Commanche Peak, Texas 12/2/2008 2 USAPWR

AmerenUE Callaway, MO 12/4/2008 1 EPR

Constellation (UniStar) 9 Mile Pt, New York 12/4/2008 1 EPR

Entergy Riverbend, LA 12/4/2008 1 ESBWR

PPL Corporation Bell Bend, PA 12/142008 1 EPR

Progress Harris, NC 4/172008 2 AP1000

Alternate Energy Holdings Hammette, ID 2009 1 EPR

Amarillo Power Amarillo,Texas 2009 2 US EPR

FPL Levy County, Florida 2009 2 AP1000

Transition Power Utah, Blue Castel Project 2010 1 ?

Unannounced ? 2010 1 ?

Unannounced ? 2010 1 ?

Total 34

Appendix