1 U.S. LWR Sustainability Program Ronaldo Szilard Director, INL, Nuclear Science & Engineering Director, Technical Integration Office, LWR Sustainability Program NUTHOS-7 October 5-9, 2008 Grand Intercontinental Hotel, Seoul, Korea

2 Overview: Maintaining the Nuclear Option The U.S. Perspective R&D program to meet the U.S. government & industry needs Vision, Basis, Goals, Scope R&D areas Laying the foundation for a new private-public partnership Summary

3 The U.S. Perspective By 2030, U.S. electricity demand expected to increase ~ 30% Nuclear generation is critical to U.S. efforts to: –Reduce greenhouse gases –Meet electricity demand –Ensure energy supply security and grid reliability –Curb increasing energy prices Cost to replace the current fleet exceeds $500B in addition to the capacity that will be added as the U.S. builds new plants It is in the U.S. interest for the current fleet of nuclear power plants to be operated as long as possible Current U.S. energy portfolio

4 “We have a situation where we have these high (oil) prices and the only solution is to diversify your resources, diversify your sources of fuel…” U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, June 7, 2008 AP Photo Source: NEI Nuclear Policy Overview Nov/Dec 2007 Energy policy must be implemented through long- standing policy based on energy security, beyond short term market forces Energy Security = Diversification

5  year licenses means current plants shut down starting 2030  Steep reduction in generation if current fleet operations are not sustained  Without today’s nuclear plants, we lose: –100 GWe of low-carbon generation over about 20 years – climate, air pollution concerns –Low-cost generation – economic concerns for businesses, homeowners Extending operation of existing reactors will avoid ~12 billion metric tons CO 2 and provide enough electricity for 70 million homes during an additional 20 years of operations. Reliance on existing plants

6 License extension plans of 104 operating reactors

7  Existing nuclear power plants will continue to safely provide clean and affordable electricity beyond current license periods  Develop the understanding, tools, and processes to ensure continued long term safe operation of existing nuclear power plants  Develop technical and operational improvements that contribute to the economic viability of existing nuclear power plants Program Vision and Goals VISION GOALS

8  INL, EPRI examination of the issues associated with long term safe and economical operation of existing and new plants  DOE-NRC co-sponsored industry-wide workshop examining research questions and opportunities  Significant planning effort underway to launch a private-public partnership this fall –Subject matter expert workshops to identify research projects and priorities –Broad participation from industry, including NRC, EPRI, vendors, utilities, universities –Steering Committee –R&D Program Plan What have we done so far?

9  Five high-priority objectives supporting operating LWRs: Sustain high performance of reactor plant materials Transition to state-of-the- art digital I&C Advances in nuclear fuel Implement broad- spectrum workforce development Implement broad- spectrum improvements and design for sustainability R&D Program Objectives

10 Collaborative R&D Program Present Scope  Nuclear Materials Aging and Degradation  Advanced LWR Fuel Development  Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization  Advanced Instrumentation and Control Technologies Funding  FY $9.75 Million  Initial focus on “component and material aging and degradation activities” R&D Implementation  Coordinated by INL Technical Integration Office (TIO)  Coordinated with EPRI and NRC-RES  Implementation through broad-based Industry / National Laboratories / University collaboration / international partners

11 Success Requires the Right Kind of Partnerships  Designed to facilitate industry and government decisions on long-term LWR operations  Industry and government jointly define and fund R&D  Provides access to expertise and facilities – leveraging the best experts on the right projects  Includes cost sharing dependent on type of research and timescale  Created with integrated collaboration among industry, government and universities  Independent steering committee oversight

12 Integration and collaboration between R&D pathways is critical for success of LWRSP Materials Aging and Degradation Advanced Fuels Advanced Instrumentation and Controls Risk-Informed Safety Margins Advanced Inspection NDE Technology Radiation Water Chemistry Effects In-service Surveillance Performance Validation

13 Nuclear Materials Aging and Degradation Research to develop the scientific basis for understanding laboratory and field data on environmental degradation of materials, components, and structures essential to safe and sustained nuclear plant operations Four R&D areas have been identified: –Reactor Metals Reactor Pressure Vessels Core Internals Secondary System Weldments –Cables –Piping –Concrete Proactive Materials Degradation Assessment Matrix

14 Aging and Degradation – R&D Areas

15 Stress Load Frequency State Constraints Materials Stainless steel Ni-alloys Cast stainless steel Low-alloy steel Zirconium alloys Environment Temperature Irradiation Corrosive Media (pH, ECP, flow rate) Mechanical Failure Stress-Corrosion Cracking Corrosion, Thermal Aging, Embrittlement Materials aging and degradation in nuclear reactor systems is complex Understanding Combined Effects

16 Aging and Degradation – Time Table

17 Research to maintain and improve nuclear fuel designs to achieve improved economic performance while demonstrating safety and performance margins. Develop high burn-up fuel with improved cladding integrity as a primary fission product barrier Advanced LWR Fuel Development Three areas of research –Advanced Designs and Concepts –Advanced Science-based Analysis for fundamental mechanistic understanding –Advanced Tools Two Time Horizons –5-10: Support LTO decision in –10-20: Support LTO operation beyond 2030

18 Advanced LWR Fuel Development – Time Table

19 Research to improve inspection and monitoring technologies, including detailed strategies for managing Instrumentation & Control (I&C) system upgrades. Develop, implement, and evaluate prognostic monitoring approaches for both non-safety-related and safety-related systems Advanced Instrumentation and Control Technologies Four Proposed Technical Projects: – Centralized On-line Monitoring for Critical SSCs Information technology and degradation models/cases to enable real time automatic statistical analysis, pattern recognition, and criteria to diagnose degraded conditions and predict remaining useful life of SSCs – New I&C and HSI Capabilities and Architecture Approach to achieve life cycle renewal of information & control capabilities needed to continue to operate safely and more efficiently – Life-cycle NDE Information Assessment Enhancement of measurement (NDE+), data capture and storage for NPP primary systems to support forthcoming diagnostic and prognostic models – Maintaining the Licensing and Design Basis Tacit knowledge capture and transfer enhanced by 3-D virtual models where beneficial

20 I&C Technologies Time Table

21 Research to fully understand and incorporate single effects and integral testing results into both deterministic and risk-informed safety margin characterizations Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization Three R&D Areas Identified: – Integrated Risk Modeling aggregation of all hazards, declarative modeling, treatment of uncertainties – Enhanced technology integration aging effects, equipment condition, visualization of results, real time success criteria – Real time analysis capability for operational risk management decision-making advanced quantification techniques, plant data connectivity

22 RISMC R&D Strategy

23 RISMC Time Table

24 Summary  USG recognizes the important role of US nuclear power plants  New nuclear plants are not expected to come on-line to compensate for 60 year retirements  Continued long-term operation of existing nuclear plants is key to future emission-free generation  Research is necessary to establish basis for long-term operation of existing nuclear plants beyond 60 years – Be driven by industry needs – Answer questions on systems, structures and components aging and reliability issues associated with long-term operation – Leverage the resources of industry, national laboratory, and university system – Continue to improve LWR technology