The nuclear power industry has significantly improved reactor technology and is building the next generation of reactors to fill new orders. These generation III designs will increase nuclear power and steadily replace over 85% of the world's nuclear electricity that is currently generated by reactors derived from designs originally developed for naval use.
Third-generation reactors have:
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A Standardized design that significantly reduces capital cost and construction time.
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A simpler, more rugged design, making them easier to operate and less vulnerable to operational upsets.
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Higher availability and longer operating life – typically 60 years.
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An order of magnitude safer, which in the extremely (extremely) unlikely occurrence of a shutdown, requires no human interaction.
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Much more efficient fuel use which reduces waste end product.
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Gen III designs are modular. Piping and valves are all standardized. Many components are assembled in a factory into structural modules that are then literally hoisted into place. Construction is speeded up – thirty-six months versus endless years. Their footprint is a quarter of the size of a traditional plant. These modular reactors can vary output from 25% to 100% in less than 30 minutes depending upon demand and peaks.
The greatest safety departure from earlier designs now in operation is that Gen III reactors incorporate passive and inherent safety features that require no active human controls or operational intervention to avoid accidents. The US requirement for core damage frequency is .0001. Generation III reactors have a frequency of 0.000005. This is for a large release of radioactivity.
Finally, there is no CO2 in nuclear energy.