Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy
ditionally , the nuclear power industry has , along with the aerospace , pharmaceutical and other industries , been highly dependent on federally funded research and development since its inception ( Dooley 2008 ). Partly as a result of the factors discussed above , the nuclear power industry has historically had one of the lowest rates of private research and development investment of any major technology-intensive societal endeavor .
Incompatible Design / Build / Commissioning Schedules
Finally , the time required to ( and cost / schedule uncertainty associated with ) licensing , construction , and commissioning of an NPP can be much longer than that required for non-nuclear facilities that might utilize the products ( electricity and process heat ) of an rNPP in a rCII . Consider , for example , a rCII in which an rNPP powers large data centers , manufacturing facilities , refineries , etc . Major misalignments between the permitting , construction , and licensing times of the rNPP , and the facilities that would rely on it present a host of practical regulatory , construction , and financial challenges to the rCII ’ s developer ( Greene 2009 ). The adoption of accelerated nuclear reactor regulatory review processes , accelerated rNPP construction schedules , and realization of step-wise reactor module commissioning , are some potential avenues for resolving this dissonance in nuclear / non-nuclear facility design / build / commissioning schedules .
Recommended Next Steps
This preliminary analysis suggests that the resilience attributes and other benefits of rNPPs and rCIIs could be harnessed by federal , state , and private sector entities to enhance Grid , CI sector , and SASC resilience at multiple scales . Much work remains to confirm these initial findings and to implement a workable strategy to realize the potential benefits of rNPPs and rCIIs , presuming that future work confirms the initial conclusions . Some recommended next steps are briefly discussed below . It is recognized that some current activities relate in some manner to this prescription . However , space limitations do not permit a survey of those efforts nor an analysis of the extent to which any such efforts are responsive to recommendations presented here .
Quantify rNPP Functional Requirements
Substantial work is needed to translate the qualitative attributes and functional requirements of rNPPs presented in Table 1 into quantitative derived rNPP requirements , and to identify the best approaches for interfacing rNPPs with the Grid ( Table 5 , Item 1 ). These derived quantitative requirements ( e . g ., real and reactive power load following capability , flexible operation capability , etc .) must address a wide range of rNPP-Grid interface issues if the Grid is to truly “ harvest ” the potential benefits of rNPPs . The question here is what , precisely , does each of the six
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