Page 534 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

2. Nuclear technologies for power generation 2030) to honor its carbon neutrality targets with emphasis on the approximately 50
by then. So far, about half of EU countries projects of small modular reactors (SMR).
Initially, nuclear technologies were di- At the end of 2019, according to the have agreed to expand the use of nuclear As the name suggests, the latter are built
rected towards the production of energy, Nuclear Technology Review 2020 of the In- energy in the energy transition. in modules, on industrial sites, and trans-
whether in civil applications, in nuclear power ternational Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA, The use of nuclear energy for the pro- ported to the place of use. They produce
plants, or in military applications, for nuclear there were 443 nuclear reactors in opera- pulsion of naval platforms began in 1955, thermal power in the range between 20
naval propulsion. In both cases, there were tion, with the capacity to generate 392.1 with the aforementioned Nautilus subma- and 300 MWt (thermal megawatts), have
notable technological advances. We will try GWe. The IAEA projections, in the most rine of the US Navy. Nuclear-powered sub- simpler and more robust designs, are less
to outline this evolution. pessimistic scenario, foresee a reduction of marines are also being built and operated subject to operational problems and se-
Land-based nuclear power plants employ this capacity until 2030, followed by an in- by the British, Russian, French, Chinese and vere accidents, are more independent of
nuclear reactors to produce thermal energy crease, in order to reach 371 GWe in 2050. Indian navies, some of which also build and operator action and incorporate the les-
through chain reactions in which heavy at- In the most optimistic scenario, the capacity operate nuclear-powered warships and air- sons of the Fukushima accident (genera-
oms, such as uranium, fission into lighter at- should increase by 25% by 2030, reaching craft carriers. At least four generations of tion III+) as well as previous experience in
oms, with a large, controlled release of ener- 496 GWe, and 80% by 2050, reaching 715 these naval platforms can be distinguished. design and operation. Their licensing must
gy and neutrons. Thermal energy is converted GWe. The share of nuclear energy in global Each new generation incorporated ele- be faster, and they will have greater avail-
into electrical energy through steam turbines electricity generation would be 6% or 12% ments of naval nuclear safety and brought ability and 60-year operational life. There
coupled to electrical generators. Over the in 2050, depending on the scenario adopt- improvements in versatility and operational are also micro-reactor projects (power <
years, four generations of reactors have been ed, a figure to be compared with 10% in capability. Regarding safety, some navies 20 MWt), generally for offgrid applica-
developed, which will be described briefly. 2019. It is worth noting that there were 54 choose to use low enrichment (< 20%, low tions, such as in inhospitable regions or
Generation I, predominant in the years reactors under construction at the end of enrichment uranium – LEU) nuclear fuel, conflict or natural disaster zones, which
1950-1960, used metallic uranium (U) or ura- 2019, 35 of them in Asia, and that 74 reac- instead of the high content (> 90%, high join SMRs to offer a range of possibilities
nium dioxide (UO2) as fuels; as moderators, tors have been connected to the electricity enrichment uranium) used, for example, for the application of their electrical ener-
graphite, heavy or light water, or beryllium grid since 2005, of which 61 are in Asia. by Americans and Russians. We will revisit gy and waste heat, which includes desali-
(Be); as moderators; liquids or gases as cool- Thirty countries use nuclear energy and naval platforms in the section dedicated to nation and hydrogen production. These
ants; and reached powers between 5 and 180 there are about 28 candidates to join this the use of nuclear technologies at sea. reactors, in addition to contributing to a
MWe. Generation II, from the 1970s-1990s, group. The interest in the nuclear area comes Currently, with technological progress, low-carbon economy, should expand the
corresponds to the majority of reactors in op- from considerations about its relevance to the aim is to build advanced nuclear reactors, nuclear sector’s share in the economy.
eration today, of the PWR (pressurized water the mitigation of climate change, guarantee
reactor) or BWR (boiling water reactor) type. of energy security and implementation of Angra dos Reis nuclear power plant - RJ
Generation III, post-1990, incorporated pas- environmental and socioeconomic policies.
sive safety systems and has simplified and The International Conference on Climate
standardized design, operation, and mainte- Change and the Role of Nuclear Power, or-
nance. It includes recent large reactors, such ganized by the IAEA and the Organization
as Westinghouse’s AP1000 – PWR, 1,100 for Economic Co-operation and Develop-

MWe, Areva’s EPR – PWR, 1,650MWe and ment – OECD, in October 2019, extensively
GE-Hitachi’s ABWR – BWR, 1,350 MWe. discussed the role of the nuclear sector in
Generation IV, under development, will in- the transition to a low-carbon economy. The
clude additional passive safety systems, fuel European Union recently recognized that it
reprocessing and high-temperature, high-ef- would need to invest more than €500 billion
ficiency operation at competitive prices. in nuclear energy by 2050 (€50 billion by

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