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Quality is key: Investing in advanced nuclear research for tomorrow’s grid
As the energy sector faces mounting pressure to grow at an unprecedented pace while maintaining reliability and affordability, nuclear technology remains an essential component of the long-term solution. Southern Company stands out among U.S. utilities for its proactive role in shaping these next-generation systems—not just as a future customer, but as a hands-on innovator.
Sherrell R. Greene
Nuclear Technology | Volume 204 | Number 2 | November 2018 | Pages 131-146
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1480213
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper builds on previous work that characterized the nature of the nuclear power plant (NPP)–electric Grid system, the concept of Grid resilience, and the potential of current U.S. NPPs to enhance the U.S. Grid, integrated Critical Infrastructure, and societal resilience. The concept of a resilient nuclear power plant (rNPP) is defined. Two rNPP Key Attributes and Six rNPP Functional Requirements are presented. A preliminary discussion of some rNPP design features that could enable an NPP to achieve the Six rNPP Functional Requirements is presented, along with a preliminary discussion of some rNPP regulatory, siting, and economic considerations. Taken as a package, the Six rNPP Functional Requirements define an NPP performance envelope that extends the societal value proposition of nuclear energy well beyond that of traditional baseload electricity generation. The paper lays the foundation for exploration of high-value rNPP applications and for future rNPP conceptual design studies.