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Decarbonising Australia’s Electricity Supply The role for small modular nuclear reactors

Decarbonising Australia’s Electricity Supply The role for small modular nuclear reactors. Ben Heard Founder – Decarbonise SA Director – ThinkClimate Consulting. The climate change problem actually looks like this. Greenhouse gas accumulates Temperature forcing builds

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Decarbonising Australia’s Electricity Supply The role for small modular nuclear reactors

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  1. Decarbonising Australia’s Electricity Supply The role for small modular nuclear reactors • Ben Heard • Founder – Decarbonise SA • Director – ThinkClimate Consulting

  2. The climate change problem actually looks like this • Greenhouse gas accumulates • Temperature forcing builds • Tipping points are real • Avoiding dangerous climate change is a zero-sum game Carbon Budget

  3. We DON’T have a plan • 5% reduction by 2020? • 50% reduction by 2050? • Significant contribution from carbon capture and storage • Significant contribution from geothermal • Massive purchases of offsets from fast growing developing economies • 20% RET? • First signs of downturn in energy demand? • High penetration of wind in South Australia? This all misses the point

  4. The pathway matters as much as the destination Avoided emissions Nuclear mimics fossil – but without the GHG Selecting “No” guarantees an inferior result

  5. Hard barriers to Australian nuclear High capital and lag on return If the CEO of, say, Origin Energy said to the board “I’ve got a great idea. Let’s spend $5bn of the company’s money, for which we will not start seeing a return for at least 5 years” he would be laughed at. In fact he would probably be sacked. Tony Owen, UCL School of Energy and Resources • Size of single generating unit • Single load loss of up to 650 MW could be supported by the existing transmission network in SA (Electranet Annual Planning Report 2012)

  6. Solutions? SMR OR

  7. What is SMR? • Small Modular Reactors • Ranging in size from approx 25 MWe (nuclear battery!) up to approximately 300MWe • Several potential technologies • Light water reactors • Gas –cooled reactors • Metal cooled fast reactors Hyperion 25MWe fast reactor NuScale Toshiba 10-50MW

  8. Why is SMR so powerful? Sources: US Dept Commerce 2011; Irwin, T. 2012; Cunningham, N. 2012)

  9. B&W/Bechtel, $400M in development funding from US DoE

  10. Example application- decarbonising South Australia Single B&W mPower SMR 180 Mwe 90% capacity factor 3 year refuelling cycle. 60 year design life Emissions? 0 tCO2-e Playford Power Station c 1960 240 Mwe 2009 emissions 1.77 million tCO2-e

  11. Example application - Swapping unwanted Pu for zero-carbon energy • Fast Breeder Reactor • Metal fuel • Liquid metal coolant • Runs at close to atmospheric pressure • Full passive safety • Breeds fissile isotopes from fertile isotopes i.e turns 99% of nuclear waste into new fuel and uses it to make energy GEH S-PRISM 311 MWe IFR module “Study finds waste-fuelled reactor feasible for UK The report includes a vote of confidence by analysts DBD Ltd, which says that in terms of fuel fabrication, reactor operation, and fuel storage, there are "no fundamental impediments" to licensability in the UK .July 2012 .

  12. Proof of Concept? • Nimitz Class, largest war ship in the world • Propelled by two General Electric pressurised water reactors driving four turbines of 194MW.

  13. Conclusion The commercialisation of SMR provides a pathway to greatly accelerated decarbonisation of fossil-dependent electricity supplies Ben Heard- Founder, Decarbonise SA and Director, ThinkClimate Consulting W: www.decarbonisesa.com E: ben.heard@thinkclimateconsulting.com.au @Ben_Heard_DSA DecarboniseSA

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