Requirements for a viable nuclear future

Different political perspectives have resulted in varied load projections of future electricity demand. However, most projections show that there will be a need for additional electrical base-load capacity by the end of the century to meet future demand. With emissions of greenhouse gases already a matter of international policy (and probably a future national policy issue in the United States) and with new acid rain laws in force, common sense calls for orders of new nuclear power plants as soon as possible. However, even if a US utility projects the need for a large block of generation in the next 10 years, it cannot consider ordering a nuclear power plant at this time. Licensing reform must be a priority before nuclear power can be a realistic choice. A simplified, advanced light water reactor (ALWR) that can be licensed and built without a prototype or demonstration plant is the only practical reactor for reopening the nuclear power option in the next decade. Evolutionary ALWR designs under safety review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are basically the designs under construction in Japan and Korea