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Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

NUCLEAR ENERGY

A

Continued on back

Atoms for Peace

Atoms for Peace in the 21st Century

• Provide a better quality of

life for billions of people

around the world now

living in poverty.

• Create a bridge to the

hydrogen economy by

allowing large-scale,

emissions-free, economical

production of hydrogen.

A Global Effort to Create

Tomorrow’s Energy

Systems

To meet future energy needs,

10 countries – Argentina,

Brazil, Canada, France, Japan,

the Republic of Korea, South

Africa, Switzerland, the

United Kingdom and the

United States – have created a

framework for international

cooperation in research to

develop future-generation

nuclear energy systems.

These countries, together with

the European Atomic Energy

Community (EURATOM),

have formed the Generation

IV International Forum (GIF)

to develop a new generation

of advanced systems.

At the direction of the U.S.

Secretary of Energy, Generation IV research in the

United States is being led

by the Idaho National

Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, in full

collaboration with other

laboratories, industry and

major research universities.

The Generation IV

Technology Roadmap

The goal of the Generation IV

effort is to have an advanced

new nuclear energy system –

encompassing everything

from fuel to power generation

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is a science-based, applied engineering national

laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department

of Energy’s missions in energy security, national security,

environment and science.

A half century of

work harnessing

“Atoms for Peace”

has achieved tremendous

advances in technology and

quality of life. However,

further advances are needed

to meet the world’s urgent

need for clean, safe, economical energy. Research

and development is underway on an advanced generation of nuclear energy

systems – known as Generation IV – that will help:

• Meet surging energy

demand around the world

without increasing emissions of greenhouse gases.

A New Generation of

Nuclear Energy
NUCLEAR ENERGY

Continued from front

03-GA51120-03

to waste management – ready

for deployment by 2030.

The GIF has identified six

nuclear systems as the most

promising technologies for

meeting vital safety, economic, waste and nonproliferation goals: gas-cooled fast

reactor system (GFR); molten

salt reactor system (MSR);

sodium liquid metal-cooled

reactor system (SFR); lead

alloy-cooled fast reactor

system (LFR): supercritical

water-cooled reactor system

(SCWR); and very high

temperature reactor system

(VHTR). These systems are

expected to be ready for

demonstration by 2020.

A Key to the Hydrogen

Economy

Hydrogen holds great

promise as an abundant,

emissions-free alternative to

oil as a transportation fuel,

but large amounts of

electricity will be needed to

produce adequate hydrogen

supplies. High temperature

Generation IV reactors will

be able to produce the zeroemissions electricity needed

to produce hydrogen by

conventional means, and

will be able to produce

hydrogen directly from

water using high-temperature electrolysis and thermochemical water splitting.

Minimizing Waste

Through an Advanced

Fuel Cycle

An important component of

the research effort on the next

generation of nuclear power

generation is to improve the

long-term sustainability of

nuclear energy by dramatically reducing the amount of

waste generated by nuclear

power reactors. The goals of

the Advanced Fuel Cycle

Initiative are to:

• Reduce the cost of disposing of commercial spent

nuclear fuel.

• Reduce inventories of

civilian plutonium in the

U.S.

• Reduce the toxicity of highlevel nuclear waste that

goes into long-term geological storage.

• Enable more effective use

of the currently proposed

geological waste repository

so it will be able to serve

the needs of the U.S. for the

foreseeable future.

For More Information

Teri Ehresman

208-526-7785

ehr@inel.gov

• Generation I: 1950s – 1960s

Early prototype reactors

• Generation II: 1970s – 1990s

Almost all of the commercial power reactors in operation

today are Generation II designs

• Generation III: Today

Standardized designs with advanced efficiency and

safety features

• Generation IV: 2030 and beyond

Innovative advanced energy systems that are highly

economical, safe, produce minimal waste and are

proliferation resistant

Safety & Reliability. Generation IV nuclear energy systems operations will:

• excel in safety and reliability.

• have a very low likelihood and degree of reactor core damage.

• eliminate the need for offsite emergency response.

Economics. Generation IV nuclear energy systems will:

• have a clear life-cycle cost advantage over other energy sources.

• have a level of financial risk comparable to other energy projects.

Sustainability. Generation IV nuclear energy systems will:

• provide sustainable energy generation that meets clean air objectives and promotes longterm availability of systems and effective fuel utilization for worldwide energy production.

• minimize and manage their nuclear waste and notably reduce the long-term stewardship

burden in the future, thereby improving protection for the public health and the environment.

Proliferation Resistance & Physical Protection. Generation IV nuclear energy systems will:

• increase the assurance that they are a very unattractive and least desirable route for

diversion or theft of weapons-usable materials, and provide increased physical protection

against acts of terrorism.

The INEEL is a U.S. Department of

Energy national laboratory operated

by Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC.

www.inel.gov

Generations of Nuclear Energy

Goals for Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems