Effects of environmental protection and public safety regulatory practices upon light water reactor economics

Submitted to the Department of Nuclear Engineering On May 16, 1978 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering. While there is a consensus regarding the need for extensive regulation of the nuclear power industry, the regulatory process has been the subject of almost constant controversy during recent years. Those subject to regulation complain that regulation is inefficient, that it causes unnecessary licensing and construction delays, and costs; the opponents of nuclear power charge that regulation is inadequate. This study is an effort to evaluate the performance of the regulatory process to which nuclear power plants are subject. The study is subdivided into three parts. Part one presents an analysis of the effects of regulation upon the leadtime and costs of Nuclear Power Plants in the United States. Licensing and construction delays and power plant cost increases caused by regulatory decisions during the past decade are evaluated. Part two is a brief review of the evolving differences between nuclear power plants and its main rival for base load generation, coal-fired plants, from the viewpoint of the electric utility planners. Finally, in Part three, the fundamental problems of the current regulatory process are assessed, and suggestions regarding how to address these problems are presented. The study is based on a survey of electric utility companies and on data available in the literature. The findings can be summarized as follows: 1. The liberal rules of the NRC licensing hearings and the lack of coordination between the NRC and state agencies are the major sources of uncertainty in the licensing of nuclear plants; 2. Redesigns and field reworks imposed by the NRC are responsible for an average of 50% of construction delays (15 months); 3. The increasing construction duration, resulting in and increasing amount of interest during construction has been the major cause of the rapid escalation of nuclear plant capital costs in the recent years. There appears to be a stabilization of the real value (constant dollars, excluding interest during construction) of nuclear plants coming on line after 1973; 4. The historically observed frequent and costly "ratchetings" and "backfittings" of nuclear plants were the inevitable result of the course of commercialization chosen by the industry rather than the consequence of inefficient regulation; 5. The current mix of political and technical issues which must be considered at the level of the NRC in licensing nuclear plants is identified as the major weakness of the current regulatory process; 6. The disparity between the "actuarial" view and the "catastrophic" view of the risks of nuclear energy indicates the need for formal consideration of social values in decision making.Energy Laboratory Light Water Reactor Project sponsored by the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration

Numerical modeling of buoyant plumes in a turbulent, stratified atmosphere

A widely applicable computational model of buoyant, bent-over plumes in realistic atmospheres is constructed. To do this, the two-dimensional, time-dependent fluid mechanics equations are numerically integrated, while a number of important physical approximations serve to keep the approach at a tractable level. A three-dimensional picture of a steady state plume is constructed from a se- quence of time-dependent, two-dimensional plume cross sec- tions--each cross section of the sequence is spaced pro- gressively further downwind as it is advected for a pro- gressively longer time by the prevailing wind. The dyna- mics of the plume simulations are quite general. The buoyancy sources in the plume include the sensible heat in the plume, the latent heat absorbed or released in plume moisture processes, and the heating of the plume by a radioactive pollutant in the plume. The atmospheric state in the simulations is also quite general. Atmospheric variables are allowed to be functions of height, and the ambient atmospheric turbulence (also a function of height) is included in the simulations. A demonstration of the ability of the model to repro- duce the solutions to problems that are known is under- taken. Comparisons to buoyant line-thermal laboratory experiments show that the model calculates the dynamics of the fluid motions to an acceptable accuracy. Comparisons to atmospheric plume rise and dispersion experiments show that the model can simulate individual plumes more accur- ately than existing correlations because it calculates the effect of the atmospheric turbulence and stratification from first-principles. The comparisons also show that improvements to the model are likely to be made by more accurately describing the anisotropic nature of atmospheric turbulence, and the production of turbulence by the sources of buoyancy.Sponsored by the Consolidated Edison Company of New York and Northeast Utilities Service Corporation

DRIFT : a numerical simulation solution for cooling tower drift eliminator performance

Topical report for Task #3 of the Waste Heat Management Research ProgramA method for the analysis of the performance of standard industrial evaporative cooling tower drift eliminators using numerical simulation methods is reported. The simulation methods make use of the computer code SOLASUR as a subroutine of the computer code DRIFT to calculate the two dimensional laminar flow velocity field and pressure loss in a drift eliminator geometry. This information is then used in the main program to obtain the eliminator collection efficiency by performing trajectory calculations for droplet's of a given size by a fourth' order Runge-Kutta numerical method.New England Electric System & Northeast Utilities Service Co

Comparative analysis of United States and French nuclear power plant siting and construction regulatory policies and their economic consequences

Despite the substantial commitments of time and money which are devoted to the nuclear power plant siting process, the effectiveness of the system in providing a balanced evaluation of the technical, environmental and public interest considerations is periodically questioned. Until now, all improvements in the siting process have introduced increased complexity and delays. In order to approach this problem from a new point of view, it is interesting to evaluate U.S. siting and licensing processes in contrast with corresponding foreign policies. This work compares the American and French policies. Initially, the economic structures, procedures and regulations in both countries that determine the siting policies and procedures for nuclear power plants are examined. Then, the results of a survey of American utilities' practices concerning their licensing histories and delays that have affected U.S. nuclear power reactors since 1965 are analyzed. It is found that although the French experience is more limited than the American one, French practices emphasize an attempt to shift consideration of major design issues in the early stages of the construction permit process, before major on-site construction commitments are made. Other important differences are that the French process is cooperative and flexible while the American process is adverserial, legalistic and rigid; and the French process allows for very little public participation or review of regulatory decisions while the American process allows relatively easy participation of public and non-federal agencies in the licensing process and has the possibility for review of regulatory decisions at several administrative and judicial levels. Power station construction and operation delays are common in the United States experience and rare in the French experience.Sponsored by U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration

Users' guide for numerical modeling of buoyant plumes in a turbulent, stratified atmosphere

A widely applicable computational model of buoyant, bent- over plumes in realistic atmospheres is constructed. To do this, the two-dimensional, time-dependent fluid mechanics equations are numerically integrated, while a number of important physical ap- proximations serve to keep the approach at a tractable level. A three-dimensional picture of a steady state plume is constructed from a sequence of time-dependent, two-dimensional plume cross sections--each cross section of the sequence is spaced progres- sively further downwind as it is advected for a progressively longer time by the prevailing wind. The dynamics of the plume simulations are quite general. The buoyancy sources in the plume include the sensible heat in the plume, the latent heat absorbed or released in plume moisture processes, and the heating of the plume by a radioactive pollutant in the plume. The atmospheric state in the simulations is also quite general. Atmospheric var- iables are allowed to be functions of height, and the ambient atmospheric turbulence (also a function of height) is included in the simulations.Sponsored by the Consolidated Edison Company of New York and Northeast Utilities Service Corporation

Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

Note: A full list of authors and affiliations appears at the end of the article. Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P 20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.</p