Should Nuclear Energy Play a Role in a Carbon-Constrained World?
Name
Manuscript for atw International Journal for Nuclear Power (9-22-18).pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
518.11 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4351c3511313edc720ad2f4de50e908a
Author(s)
Buongiorno, Jacopo
Parsons, John E
Petti, David A
Date Issued
2018
Journal
Atw. Internationale Zeitschrift für Kernenergie
Publisher
Verl.-Gruppe Handelsblatt
Citation
Buongiorno, J. et al. “Should Nuclear Energy Play a Role in a Carbon-Constrained World?.” Atw. Internationale Zeitschrift für Kernenergie, 63, 11-12 (2018): 573-578 © 2018 The Author(s)
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
We summarize the findings of a new MIT study on the future of nuclear energy. The context for the study is the challenge of simultaneously expanding energy access and economic opportunity to billions of people while drastically reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. We find that while decarbonization of the electricity sectorcan be accomplished employing an assortmentof low-carbon technologies in variouscombinations, nuclear has a uniquely valuable role to play as a dispatchable low-carbon technology. Excluding a dispatchable low-carbon option like nuclear, as the German Energiewende does, significantly increases the cost and difficulty of achieving decarbonization targets. We also find that thehigh cost of new nuclear plantslimits nuclear’s role in a balanced portfolio.Reducing this cost can significantly reduce the total cost of decarbonization.Our study identified thefactors driving up cost, and we identify promising approaches to achieving cost reductions. Finally, we identify needed government policies. These include decarbonization strategies that recognize the contribution of all low-carbon energy technologies and treat them equally in the electricity market. These also include policies to accommodate and support development and demonstration of advanced reactor designs.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:50009994
