Progress on advanced nuclear fission reactors is stalling, say experts

The US Office of Nuclear Energy is unlikely to deliver on its mission to develop and demonstrate an advanced nuclear reactor by the middle of the century, according to a new analysis.

In theory advanced, ‘non-light water’ reactors could provide carbon-free energy, operate at higher temperatures, and reduce future nuclear waste by operating for decades without refuelling.
"However, despite repeated commitments to non-light water reactors, and substantial investments by NE (more than $2 billion of public money), no such design is remotely ready for deployment today,” said lead researcher Ahmed Abdulla from UC San Diego.

His team used data obtained via the Freedom of Information act to reconstruct the department’s budget over the last 18 years and assess its performance. He criticised the NE for not truly supporting innovative research. "One example of this lack of vision is the gap that exists between the advanced reactor and advanced fuel programs,” he said.

“Investing in advanced fuels research is critical to developing a new nuclear reactor technology. However, NE has mostly invested in one fuel type while exploring multiple reactor designs, most of which do not use that fuel. This disjunction between the two programs is naturally problematic."

He also called for more funds to be made available. "It has dedicated only $2 billion over the past 18 years to all advanced reactor and fuel initiatives,” he said. “While that may appear to be a substantial sum, by NE's own estimates it is not enough to ready even one such design for commercial deployment.”

His sentiment was echoed by David Kingham, CEO of Tokamak Energy, which fired up its ST-40 fusion reactor for the first time in April. “I agree that there is a problem with advanced fission innovation,” he told Professional Engineering. “Progress has been slow – and not just in the US.”

Kingham said one of the problems with fission was that innovating quickly was difficult. “Fusion has suffered from the same slow pace of innovation over the last 20 years,” he said.  “But we are now seeing a new wave of private investment in fusion with companies such as Tokamak Energy demonstrating rapid incremental innovation and raising private investment to drive faster progress in more compact fusion devices.”