WEMO24-Compiled Report-Interactive compressed (002) 4154-7882-8116 v.1 - Flipbook - Page 34
Global
Outlook
In the USA, the ADVANCE140 Act that passed Senate agreement
in June 2024 and that should go shortly to President Joe Biden
for signature, is notably aimed at accelerating the licensing and
creating new incentives for AMRs.
TerraPower (sponsored by Bill Gates) has developed a 345 MWe
sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy
storage system. The construction of the first plant (Natrium)
has started in June 2024 in the USA.
140 Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy
Space-based solar power would be transformed into electricity
via photovoltaic cells in geostationary orbit around Earth. The
power would then be transmitted wirelessly in the form of
microwaves to dedicated receiver stations on Earth, which
convert the energy back into electricity and feed it into the
local grid.
Technological advancements have made the concept of SBSP
more feasible as the space launches cost has decreased, and
the photovoltaics cells performance has improved.
However, there are challenges. A big one is the efficiency of the
microwave beam. It spreads out when the wave progresses so
that the receiving antenna on the surface must be huge (many
square kilometres), which limits where to build them.
141 https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/SOLARIS/
Space-Based_Solar_Power_overview
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Another important challenge is the high initial costs of launching
solar panels and other necessary materials into space. Also,
building large structures in orbit and maintaining them is
complex and expensive.
In early 2023, the European Space Agency launched the SOLARIS
program, starting with a technology development and feasibility
analysis that aims to enable the Agency to decide, by 2025,
whether to continue with a program of large-scale development
and use of space-based solar power.
On the opposite, in January 2024, NASA142 released a report that
concluded that generating power from orbit was too expensive,
especially compared with solar power made on Earth.143
White hydrogen144 , also known as natural hydrogen, is found in
the earth’s subsurface along tectonic plates, both underwater
and on the surface. Deposits have been discovered on every
continent and in many countries around the world, but scientists
are reluctant to estimate the quantities of natural hydrogen
available. It is therefore impossible to say what share white
hydrogen could supply in a few years’ time.
WEMO 2024
Combined with start-up innovative spirit and new private and
public funding these AMRs could fuel a real nuclear renaissance.
Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP)141
Sunlight is, on average, more than ten times as intense at
the top of the atmosphere as it is at the surface of the Earth.
Moreover, at a sufficiently high orbit sunlight would be available
on a continuous basis. This would lift fundamental limitations
that solar panels have on Earth as they can only generate power
during the daytime and much of the sunlight is absorbed by the
atmosphere during its journey to the ground.
142 National Aeronautics and Space Administration
143 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/
nasas-hopes-for-space-solar-power-are-looking-dim/
144 https://www.alcimed.com/en/insights/white-hydrogen/
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Depending on their respective degree of technical maturity,
the first-Generation IV systems are expected to be deployed
commercially around 2030-2040. They have advantages
compared to the present LWR. For example, fast neutron and
breeder technologies allow in principle, to extract almost all the
energy contained in uranium, decreasing fuel requirements by
a factor of 100 compared to today. Molten salt reactors don’t
need water cooling that create rivers heating (especially with
potential increasing temperatures) and hence limit the nuclear
plants electricity output.
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