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| 1 |
ID:
119802
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| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Pakistan is facing a severe electricity crisis due to a persistent and widening gap between demand and available system generating capacity. The worsening of power shortages has become a major political issue, reflecting the hardships for individuals and businesses. It threatens to undermine the credibility and legitimacy of government and to further stress the social fabric of the country. The power crisis did not emerge suddenly. It is the direct result of imprudent and reckless energy policies over the last three decades. These policies have impeded the development of cheap and abundant domestic energy sources. They have also resulted in very inefficient fuel-mix choices, compromising energy and economic security. Pakistan's energy bankruptcy is ultimately due to massive institutional and governance failure. This paper analyzes the problems confronting Pakistan's electricity sector and identifies the key elements of a potential policy response to address the country's severe power crisis.
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| 2 |
ID:
115120
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2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Skeptics point out, with some justification, that the nuclear industry's prospects were dimmed by escalating costs long before Fukushima. If history is any guide, one direct consequence of the calamity in Japan will be more stringent safety requirements and regulatory delays that will inevitably increase the costs of nuclear power and further undermine its economic viability. For nuclear power to play a major role in meeting the future global energy needs and mitigating the threat of climate change, the hazards of another Fukushima and the construction delays and costs escalation that have plagued the industry will have to be substantially reduced. One promising direction for nuclear development might be to downsize reactors from the gigawatt scale to less-complex smaller units that are more affordable. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are scalable nuclear power plant designs that promise to reduce investment risks through incremental capacity expansion; become more standardized and reduce costs through accelerated learning effects; and address concerns about catastrophic events, since they contain substantially smaller radioactive inventory. Given their lower capital requirements and small size, which makes them suitable for small electric grids, SMRs can more effectively address the energy needs of small developing countries.
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| 3 |
ID:
097186
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| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper identifies the fundamental elements and critical research tasks of a comprehensive analysis of the costs and benefits of nuclear power relative to investments in alternative baseload technologies. The proposed framework seeks to: (i) identify the set of expected parameter values under which nuclear power becomes cost competitive relative to alternative generating technologies; (ii) identify the main risk drivers and quantify their impacts on the costs of nuclear power; (iii) estimate the nuclear power option value; (iv) assess the nexus between electricity market structure and the commercial attractiveness of nuclear power; (v) evaluate the economics of smaller sized nuclear reactors; (vi) identify options for strengthening the institutional underpinnings of the international safeguards regime; and (vii) evaluate the proliferation resistance of new generation reactors and fuel cycles.
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| 4 |
ID:
109405
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper employs a framework of dynamic energy analysis to model the growth potential of alternative electricity supply infrastructures as constrained by innate physical energy balance and dynamic response limits. Coal-fired generation meets the criteria of longevity (abundance of energy source) and scalability (ability to expand to the multi-terawatt level) which are critical for a sustainable energy supply chain, but carries a very heavy carbon footprint. Renewables and nuclear power, on the other hand, meet both the longevity and environmental friendliness criteria. However, due to their substantially different energy densities and load factors, they vary in terms of their ability to deliver net excess energy and attain the scale needed for meeting the huge global energy demand. The low power density of renewable energy extraction and the intermittency of renewable flows limit their ability to achieve high rates of indigenous infrastructure growth. A significant global nuclear power deployment, on the other hand, could engender serious risks related to proliferation, safety, and waste disposal. Unlike renewable sources of energy, nuclear power is an unforgiving technology because human lapses and errors can have ecological and social impacts that are catastrophic and irreversible. Thus, the transition to a low carbon economy is likely to prove much more challenging than early optimists have claimed.
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