PERFORMING COUNTRY ASSESSMENTS USING THE IAEA MILESTONES PROCESS, DETAILED ANALYSIS OF TWO KEY INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES

Global interest in the deployment of nuclear power to meet future energy needs has been intensifying in recent years, especially in developing countries that also have limited water resources. This situation presents a unique opportunity for cogenerating electricity and clean water using a facility that employs a nuclear power plant for both electricity generation and seawater desalination. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in 2008 conducted a detailed study to assess the economic viability of deploying a commercial-sized nuclear energy facility to coproduce electricity and product water to meet the region’s commercial, industrial, and residential needs. ANL’s study supplemented a parallel study done by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on a nuclear infrastructure-development assessment based on guidance developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The study provided detailed information regarding two infrastructure issues in the IAEA guidance, funding and financing and the electrical grid. The study analyzed the deployment of a commercial-sized plant coupled with a large size desalination plant (i.e., 250,000-750,000 cubic meters per day product water capacity). The analysis presents a range of opportunities to render a new nuclear power project economically viable in regions with no or little nuclear power infrastructure while taking into consideration elements of the global financial challenges. Four key input parameters were identified for the economic analysis: overnight capital cost, financing scheme (evaluated in terms of discount rates), aggregate capacity of the desalination operations, and premium sales of product water and electricity through exports within the region. In addition, the study also shows that prudent planning of nuclear power and water cogeneration are more likely to meet IAEA specific recommendations in implementing a nuclear power program in a region with expanding electricity and water resource requirements. The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.