World Nuclear Association Blog

The news last week that Germany once again has broken its own solar generation records sounded like good news for the environment. But behind the headline the broader picture for Energiewende is looking decidedly less rosy.

Renewable generation from solar and wind for the first seven months of 2013 is down on the same period last year, according to data from Franunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.

Generation from solar is up 1.3 TWh, but this is more than countered by a 3.3 TWh drop in generation from wind, making an overall reduction in generation from these renewables of 2.0 TWh.

Not mentioned in the Fraunhofer data is the contribution of biomass. Considered by some environmentalists as a controversial energy source, biomass is a longstanding component of German electricity generation. Biomass generated about the same amount of electricity as wind in 2012, so a similar contribution is probable in the first seven months of 2013. 

Nuclear generation is up slightly on the same period last year. But the biggest changes are seen in fossil fuel generation. Gas generation is down a massive 5.6 TWh. Some of this fall is the consequence of increased solar generation. Gas tends to be used for peaking power, and to fill in the gaps when solar and wind aren't generating well. With more solar generation there is less space for gas in the generation mix.

Displacing fossil fuels with solar is good, but gas is the 'least worse' form of fossil generation, in terms of carbon emissions, and it is the only form of fossil generation showing a decline. Brown coal and hard coal, amongst the most polluting forms of generation, see a combined rise in output of 7.5 TWh, with brown coal being used for baseload demand and hard coal meeting a mix of baseload and peaking demand.

Nuclear still the leading ultra-low carbon generation source

It is worth bearing in mind, given the frequent articles on solar records being broken, as to what the current generation mix is in Germany. While coal dominates the generation mix, nuclear - despite the closure of some reactors in 2011 - remains the largest source of ultra-low carbon generation, generating more than twice the amount of electricity generated from either wind or solar - or for that matter gas.

Over the rest of the year solar output will decline, so by the end of the year the output is likely to be only a tenth of its peak summer levels. Wind may fill the gap some of the time, but with more variability, with gas generation likely to increase to fill the remaining peaking demand (based on 2012 performance), leading to an overall increase in carbon emissions per unit of electricity produced.

Solar has been effective in displacing peaking generation from gas, but for constant baseload generation Germany relies on brown coal and nuclear. The reactors closed in a kneejerk decision in 2011 could have generated around 30 TWh of electricity between January to July, displacing brown coal and avoiding the emissions of around 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The EU is currently debating the issue of state aid to nuclear and other energy sources , with Germany opposing them. Among the many arguments in play one of the more questionable is that reported here by Greenpeace.

"The problem - for Germany - is that the plans would put new renewable technologies at a disadvantage by putting them on an equal footing with older, established technologies." (The older technologies presumably meant to include nuclear)

But exactly how much older is nuclear energy? The first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, at Chicago Pile-1,  took place in December 1942. The first electricity supplied to the grid from a nuclear power plant came from Obninsk, Russia in June 1954. The first commercial nuclear power plant was Calder Hall, England, which started operations in 1956.

In comparison, although primitive solar cells had been existence since the late 1800s, the first practical solar cell was demonstrated in 1954 at the New Jersey based Bell Laboratories located in Murray Hill. So the first practical solar cells date back to about the same time as when the first nuclear power plants were coming on line. 

For wind, while windmills have been used for centuries, the first wind turbine designed to generate electricity dates back to 1887, as built by Prof James Blyth in Glasgow, Scotland. A more substantial turbine was developed by Charles Brush in Cleveland, Ohio over the winter of 1887/8.

Electricity generation at central power stations only started in the early 1880s - initially using coal-fuelled steam engines or hydropower.

So it appears that, far from being younger technologies, wind and solar renewables have been in use for as long, or even longer than nuclear power and some are amongst the oldest forms of electricity generation. With that in mind, isn't putting all technologies on an "equal footing", as the Greenpeace article describes it, the fair thing to do?

The World Nuclear University will be running three courses over the coming weeks. The six-week Summer Institute starts this weekend in Oxford. The course is a comprehensive annual programme which aims to ensure that the future leaders of our industry gain an understanding the many diverse areas that are relevant to nuclear throughout the world.

WNU's one week course will be run in Seoul and then Beijing. These courses are designed to enhance the knowledge of younger people about how nuclear science and technology are applied in the world today, while encouraging an expansive view of where nuclear is likely to go in the future. 

Find out more about the WNU

WNA has relaunched its public website, with a new design, new content and new features. 

Central to the new design is WNA's Information Library, containing comprehensive coverage of all aspects of nuclear energy, country policy and the broader uses of nuclear power.

A new categorisation and menu system allows easier access to related papers. For example, all the country profiles can be viewed on one page. Another example is our page showing all our Nuclear Fuel Cycle info papers.

Country profiles are also among those pages that benefit from greater links with WNN. Pages show the latest related WNN news articles, updated live.

A new section Nuclear Basics answers some of the key questions on nuclear energy in succinct documents designed to provide some of the main facts in an accessible form.

The WNA section brings together content covering the wide range of activities carried out by the association. There is information about WNA itself, news about our ranged of conferences, details on our many publications and links to the network of other nuclear associations and some of the broader energy organizations.

 
WNA is pleased to welcome three new members who have joined our association recently. 

Nucleonix Systems Private Limited is engaged in design, development, manufacturing and supplying of nuclear radiation measuring & allied instrumentation. 

Kalva Engineers aims to be a one stop shop for global non-destructive testing for infrastructure, green field projects, oil companies and research organizations in India and worldwide. 

Trivis Inc. provides comprehensive consulting, engineering, design, and construction for a range of electric power generation and power delivery services.

 
Registration has opened for the 37th Annual WNA Symposium and special discounts are available to those who book before 3 August. Those wishing to attend can register via this link.

The WNA Symposium is the nuclear industry’s premier event – an annual conference attended by over 700 leaders and specialists from more than 30 countries. The Symposium brings together the nuclear industry and its major stakeholders to discuss topics ranging from the nuclear fuel market to the practicalities of building new nuclear power plants.

Global electricity demand continues to grow rapidly, driven above all by Asian economic growth. Nuclear is seen as an indispensable part of the generating mix in a number of major countries. China, South Korea and India are seeking to secure and to diversify their energy supplies, with increasing use of nuclear energy.

For these plans to be realised, the nuclear industry will need to deliver on time and on budget. This remains arguably the greatest challenge for utilities, reactor vendors and the nuclear supply chain. It will also present a challenge for fuel cycle participants seeking to meet new demand. All this must be achieved in the face of ever greater scrutiny and regulatory demands. In some countries, nuclear will also have to contend with government policy skewed to assist competitor technologies that themselves will increase nuclear operating difficulties. The Symposium will focus on the ways in which the industry will meet these challenges.

The WNU Radiation Technology School has got off to a great start in Daejeon, South Korea. Hosted by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, Korea Radioisotope Association, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co and supported by the IAEA and the World Council on Isotopes, the school runs until 1 June.

Forty fellows from 19 countries, seen with their mentors in the photo below, heard on their first day from IAEA Deputy Director General – Daud Mohamad - about his organisation’s work in this field. There was also a forward-looking presentation from ANSTO’s Professor Richard Banati covering everything from the use of nuclear technologies in diagnosing mental illnesses to determining the effect of plastic waste on the oceans.

Nuclear technologies play a vital role in many areas other than just power generation. More can be found out in WNA's Info Papers on Radioisotopes in Medicine and Radioisotopes in Industry. 

The Call for Presentations for the 37th Annual WNA Symposium is now out, with an 18th May deadline for submissions. The WNA Symposium is the nuclear industry’s premier event – an annual conference attended by over 700 leaders and specialists from more than 30 countries. The Symposium brings together the nuclear industry and its major stakeholders to discuss topics ranging from the nuclear fuel market to the practicalities of building new nuclear power plants. 

The topics we are particularly looking to cover include, but will not be limited to:

• From mining to fabrication: the key issues for fuel supply in meeting growth.
• Adjusting to lower secondary supplies with the end of the US/Russia HEU Agreement.
• Keeping on track with waste management, decommissions and disposal.
• How the global supply chain can assist national industries to benefit from nuclear investments.
• Tried and tested: the challenges for our existing reactors.
• On budget, on time and on line: successfully implementing new build.
• Policy, technology and society: the challenges of future energy supply.

We welcome presentations on these and other topics from industry experts and external specialists. We particularly encourage proposals from professionals in emerging nuclear countries and from younger specialists.

Submitting a Proposal

Proposals for Presentations must be submitted in the form of an abstract by 18 May 2012 using this online form.

Ian Emsley participated in the IAEA expert group convened to formulate high and low projections for global nuclear capacity to 2050. The group met in Vienna between 22-27th April and the work will be published in August.

The global projections reflect those generated for individual countries which are based principally on reactors that are planned or under construction and reactors that are expected to be retired in the period to 2030. Projections for 2030-2050 are based on expected electricity requirements, stated government objectives, past performance and technical capacity. The apparent consequences of Fukushima have been incorporated into the projections but the full consequences will not be known for many years.

WNA's Julian Kelly participated in the OECD/NEA Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance (EGRFP). The expert group is under the guidence  of Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS), which in turn is under the guidance of the OECD Nuclear Science Committee (NSC). 

The EGRFP covers the technical issues including reactor-based plutonium disposition, and the International Fuel Performance Experiments database. 

More details can be found on their website at http://www.oecd-nea.org/science/wprs/index.html.