Advanced Nuclear Power
Research and Development

Approved by the IEEE-USA Board of Directors
19 June 2003

The IEEE-USA supports a substantial renewed nuclear energy R&D effort as part of a broad and balanced government program in energy technology. IEEE-USA believes that the improved nuclear reactor designs merit a substantial advanced nuclear energy research, development and demonstration program. Such a program would result in the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems that could provide a valuable future energy source.

IEEE-USA recommends increased funding for R&D in energy technologies generally, to provide a diverse set of options for more efficient electricity use in the near and long-terms. Our vision emphasizes energy efficiency and diverse energy sources including solar, other renewable energy resources, and advanced nuclear technologies, in order to reduce the need for burning fossil fuels. Nuclear energy now provides 20 percent of electricity in the U.S. and 17 percent worldwide. In the future, nuclear energy can contribute an even greater share of clean and economic energy for a growing population, raising the quality of life of the developing world while reducing pressures on the earth's environment and finite resources. U.S. Department of Energy funding of nuclear energy research, including research on reprocessing and use of spent reactor fuel, needs to be invigorated.

The United States should:

• Exercise world leadership in nuclear science and technology.
• Support the continued use of nuclear energy as a major component in a balanced portfolio of energy sources.
•  Develop new nuclear energy systems within the larger context of increased conservation, energy efficiency and use of other energy sources.
• Capitalize on the advantages of nuclear power - no direct emissions of CO2 or other greenhouse gases, and the capacity to produce a significant fraction of the world's demand for electricity for hundreds of years or more.
• Realize the potential for increased safety and more attractive economics in the next generation of reactor designs.

In moving forward with a major renewed program, the research needs to address the challenges of nuclear power, including:

• ·Public concerns about the risks of radiation, nuclear power plants, and the transportation and storage of nuclear waste.
• Presence of a large quantity of energy and radioactive materials stored in the fuel of a nuclear reactor.
• Difficulties in managing nuclear spent fuel.
• Illicit production of materials that could be formed into nuclear weapons, and dissemination of nuclear weapons expertise that might increase the potential for proliferation of nuclear weapons.
• Economic challenges posed in the past by a long and uncertain licensing process that led to significant increases in construction and operating costs in the USA

The IEEE-USA position is that nuclear energy has been demonstrated to be environmentally sound and economically competitive, and that the challenges discussed above can be addressed in a manner that will make nuclear energy an even more attractive energy option. The U.S. should accelerate the research, development and demonstration of next-generation nuclear energy systems including reprocessing and the use of long-term sustainable fuel cycles. The deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems would be further assisted by implementing effective licensing reforms to demonstrate that reactors in the U.S. can be built as cost effectively as they are abroad.

This statement was developed by the Energy Policy Committee of the IEEE-United States of America (IEEE-USA), and represents the considered judgment of a group of U.S. IEEE members with expertise in the subject field. IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., created in 1973 to advance the public good, while promoting the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE.

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Last Update:  23 June 2003
Staff Contact: Bill Williams, bill.williams@ieee.org