The state of nuclear energy in the word today

Belarus is implementing a nuclear energy program. The second unit of the Belarusian NPP will be commissioned soon. Academic Secretary of the Physical and Mathematical Sciences Department of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Sergei Shcherbakov talked to BelTA about the role that nuclear energy plays in ensuring energy security and combating climate change.

Benefits and advantages

Mr Shchervbakov, what are the advantages of nuclear energy?

First, this is the high calorific value of nuclear fuel: One kilogram of 4%-enriched fuel grade uranium releases energy equivalent to the combustion of nearly 100 tonnes of high grade coal or 60 tonnes of oil. Second, this is reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The intensive development of nuclear energy can be considered one of the means of combating global warming, for example, nuclear power plants in Europe reduce CO2 emissions by 700 million tonnes every year. Construction of nuclear power plants ensures economic growth, creates new jobs. The development of nuclear energy contributes to the growth of scientific research and high-tech exports.

According to the high case scenario of its new outlook, the IAEA now expects world nuclear generating capacity to increase by 82% to 715 gigawatts by 2050. According to forecasts, the growth of capacity and development of nuclear energy in the short and long term will occur mainly in Asia where the construction of 35 reactors is currently underway. Asia is also home to 61 of the 74 new reactors connected to the grid since 2005.

What benefits does the country reap from using nuclear energy?

Belarus is now upgrading its energy production capacities. The efficiency and reliability of energy supply to consumers are being increased. Along with the modernization and use of new highly-efficient generating capacities, systematic work is being carried out to reduce the cost of energy production and sales. Nuclear energy is a well-established source of electricity and a critical tool to mitigate the climate change. Therefore, the commissioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant remains the most important project for the energy industry of Belarus. This is essential for the development of not only the energy sector but also the entire economy.

The Belarusian NPP will diversify the structure of the fuel and energy mix and will replace up to 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas.Consequently, it will help reduce the share of gas in energy production from 95% to 60% and decrease greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by seven million tonnes per year. On top of that, it will give a strong intellectual and technological impetus to the development of the country, help strengthen the independence and economic security of Belarus. This chimes in with the strategic goal of the fuel and energy complex development. It is important to meet energy needs of the domestic economy and households, and to reduce the burden on the environment.

Benefits for the economy and the environment - How does the use of different types of generation, including nuclear and renewable energy, help ensure the country's energy security?

Today the generating capacities of the Belarusian energy system, taking into account the nuclear power plant, are sufficient to meet domestic needs for electricity, which allowed the country to completely abandon its import. The development of nuclear and renewable energy will help diversify the structure of the fuel and energy balance, replace up to 4.5 billion cubic meters of imported gas and improve the environmental situation in Belarus.

How do you assess the role of nuclear power industry in addressing global environmental problems, like greenhouse gas emissions, the climate change?

Nuclear energy is a low-carbon energy source that plays an important role in preventing CO2 emissions. This is an environmentally friendly, reliable source of energy, it has clear advantages over fossil fuels. From the environmental point of view, this means zero direct CO2 emissions. Indeed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognizes that over the course of its life-cycle, a nuclear power plant produces about the same amount of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per unit of electricity as renewable sources. Over the past 50 years, the use of nuclear energy has helped reduce global CO2 emissions by approximately 74 Gt, equivalent to the total global energy-related emissions in almost two years. At the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November 2021, it was noted that nuclear energy uses sustainable, safe, low-carbon technologies to make a significant contribution to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Around 30 countries included nuclear energy in plans submitted under the 2015 Paris Agreement, including both near-term (2030) targets in so-called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and longer term strategies for net zero emissions.

Research has been conducted at the national level on the three-year project “The Potential Role of Nuclear Energy in National Climate Change Mitigation Strategies”, coordinated by the IAEA. It was noted that nuclear energy has significant potential in terms of using nuclear power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet climate change goals, including those agreed at the COP26 Climate Summit.

What new areas will get a boost with the commissioning of the two units of the Belarusian nuclear power plant?

The commissioning of the two power units will stimulate the development of energy-intensive industries in such areas as hydrogen power, cement industry, non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, construction of high-rise residential buildings using electricity for heating and hot water supply, and others.

World Trends

How do you see the prospects for nuclear energy in the world?

New technologies are developed to expand the scope of nuclear power in the decarbonized energy balance of the future and deepen its integration with other low-carbon energy sources, such as renewable sources with variable generation and fossil fuels combined with carbon capture and storage technologies.

Today, nuclear energy accounts for 20% of electricity produced in the UN Economic Commission for Europe region and 43% of low-carbon electricity production. However, fossil fuels still dominate energy supply and provide more than 50% of the region's electricity. Nuclear power is the largest source of low-carbon generation in many UNECE countries, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. Twenty of the commission's member states currently operate nuclear power plants, and 15 more are building or planning to build new reactors. In addition, seven UNECE member states are developing nuclear power programs for the first time. A number of countries, such as Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, say that nuclear power will play an important role in reducing their national emissions in the future.

In addition, the use of nuclear power is expanding in Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa. There is also great interest in nuclear power in developing countries that are exploring ways to fulfill their commitment to sustainable development.

What new areas of nuclear energy industry are being developed in the world?

In addition to large-capacity nuclear power plant units, which have earned a good reputation, a new area is being actively explored – nuclear power plants with small modular reactors. They seem particularly handy in remote regions and countries with small power girds. Several experimental and demonstrational nuclear power plants have been commissioned or are about to be commissioned. Nuclear power plants with small-capacity reactors allow reducing capital outlays thanks to simpler designs, lower weight, smaller size, smaller metal consumption, greater reliability and higher operation stability without any detriment to safety. Batch production of such modules for nuclear power plants is being realized.

The Russian Federation has commissioned a floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov. It is fitted with compact small-capacity modular pressurized-water reactors KLT-40S. Each can output 35MW and together they can produce 70MW of electricity and up to 50Gcal/h of heating energy for heating water. The construction of a nuclear power plant with high-temperature gas-cooled small-capacity reactors HTR-PM has been finished in China. The nuclear power plant comprises two reactor modules which are attached to a 210MW steam turbine generator.

The construction of a nuclear power plant unit featuring an innovative fast-neutron reactor Brest-OD-300 began at premises of Siberian Chemical Plant in Seversk, Russia in 2021. It is a new reactor with the installed capacity of 300MW. It uses lead as the reactor heat carrier and burns new nitride uranium-plutonium fuel, which is optimal for fast-neutron reactors. It will become part of an experimental and demonstrational energy complex. The complex will comprise three mutually connected facilities the world has not seen yet: a module for manufacturing uranium-plutonium fuel, the BREST-OD-300 unit, and a module for processing irradiated fuel.

Although building a nuclear power plant is costly, it is quite cheap to operate one. Fuel costs constitute only an insignificant part of the overall cost of electricity generation. This is why, according to the latest economic estimates published by the World Nuclear Association, nuclear energy is cost-competitive with other forms of electricity, except in some cases where access to cheap fossil fuels is available.