NEA
Summary
Nuclear energy is an important source of low-carbon electricity and plays a significant role in avoiding carbon emissions. It has the potential to contribute further to the decarbonisation of the world’s energy sector if it is also used to provide heat for industrial applications, which today mainly run on fossil fuels. The feasibility of non-electrical applications of nuclear energy has already been demonstrated through decades of experience with approximately 67 reactors around the world (representing about 15% of the world’s reactors) providing either district heating, desalination or some other form of process heat. However, to date, cogeneration applications have used only a small fraction of nuclear energy. Existing reactors can supply thermal energy for industrial applications at less than 300ºC. The advanced reactors that are being developed now would reach outlet temperatures many times higher, making them suitable for cogeneration applications over a wider temperature range. Nuclear cogeneration can also enhance the flexibility of electricity supply in combination with high levels of renewables.
A group of experts from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) member countries was convened to investigate the challenges and opportunities for nuclear cogeneration. The economic competitiveness of nuclear thermal energy was one of the focuses of the ad hoc Expert Group on the Role and Economics of Nuclear Cogeneration in a Low-Carbon Energy Future. The group recognised that cogeneration applications of nuclear energy are more likely to develop if they are more economical than the technical solutions they replace, namely gas-fired production of steam and electricity.
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