MIT study upbeat on global nuclear power growth

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Nuclear power use is growing worldwide but the high costs of setting up plants, disposing of waste and worries over abuse are holding back expansion, a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

"To enable an expansion of nuclear power, it must overcome critical challenges in cost, waste disposal and proliferation concerns while maintaining its currently excellent safety and reliability record," said the report, the third since 2003 on nuclear power by the Cambridge, Mass., institution.

The report noted how nuclear power development was moving ahead globally while lagging in the United States. The United States hasn't licensed a plant since the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

Proliferation fears cited in the report coincide with continuing row over Iran's nuclear program and plans announced by Argentina and Brazil to push forward their nuclear programs.

The report said concerns over climate change and global warming could drive a global growth of nuclear power industry if handled correctly.

Nuclear energy, which provides about 70 percent of the "zero" carbon electricity in the United States, is "an important option for the market place in a low-carbon world," said the report.

Projections for nuclear power growth worldwide have increased but as a low-carbon option that greatly reduces the risk of further climate change, nuclear power could be deployed more comprehensively worldwide, said the report.

More financial incentives were needed to fund nuclear power expansion in the United States but the reported cited two options that could make nuclear power cheaper and safer to run.

The recycling of fuel at great cost that discouraged investors from entering the field was one area where policy change could help, the report's recommendations showed.

With plentiful uranium supplies, it is no longer essential to keep recycling fuel, it said.

Recycling nuclear waste offers few short-term benefits because the process costs too much and is unnecessary while uranium supplies remain plentiful.

Likewise, different approaches to how fuel supplies are currently handled can reduce risks related to nuclear fuel, its recycling and enrichment, said the report.

Rather than agonize over fuel supplies, the nuclear community and the United States in particular should look into setting up mechanisms for leasing fuel for reactors abroad.

A leasing option arranged through government agencies or a quasi-government group would "reduce fears that dangerous components will end up with terrorists."

The report recommended innovative measures to deal with the problem of nuclear waste disposal, including consolidation of waste disposal sites.