Puerto Rico's nuclear option: Bringing a bold gambit to the table

A group of young Puerto Rican engineers and volunteers is making waves with a proposal to utilize the latest generation of nuclear micro and small modular reactors (SMRs) as a feasible part of the territory’s future energy mix and a steady-supply alternative to back up gas, solar and wind.

The Puerto Rican-led non-profit Nuclear Alternative Project (NAP) attracted attention last month with the release of a US energy department-funded study (available here) on the potential use of SMRs and micro reactors on the island, having won a notice to proceed from the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory.

The reactor models NAP has in mind, however, are a far cry from the massive forced steam plants most recognize by their hyperboloid cooling towers, but are instead any of a variety of micro and small reactors that can be transported via tractor trailer with capacity of between 1MW and 20MW, or the mid-sized SMRs with capacity between 50MW and 600MW. 

Source: NAP

New models of micro reactors, as shown in artist renditions below, are also much faster to install, and can be up and running in a single month with sufficient fuel for 5-10 years, at which point the entire reactor can be swapped for a freshly fueled system.     

SMRs, however, still take three years to install and need refueling every two years, but are still seen as a better option than a full-scale traditional nuclear power plant (as in this artist rendition).

A whole new breed

The head of NAP’s technical advisory board, Luis Reyes, compared the advances in nuclear technology with those of the automotive industry. He said, for example, that conventional reactors would be “a 1932 Ford,” while SMRs would be a “2020 Tesla.”

“They are both cars and can take you from one place to another, but the technology is different,” said Reyes, who is the former chief operating officer of the US federal nuclear regulatory commission, in comments to local daily El Nuevo Día. 

“We have the opportunity to educate Puerto Ricans about these advanced energy technologies, because we have to plan for the future,” said Reyes. “In the United States, there are hundreds of engineers working in the nuclear industry, but on the island there has not been much education regarding advances in this technology. On the contrary, there’s a lot of misinformation based on old technology.”

According to the study, both micro reactors and SMRs are resistant to earthquakes and hurricanes, and enjoy “outrageous safety margins.”

Reyes said that as part of a second phase of the study, “federal location requirements” for nuclear power projects will be analyzed and applied to Puerto Rico. These requirements consider geotechnical aspects, flooding, hurricanes and earthquakes, among others.

The second phase of the study is also financed by the DOE, and NAP expects to finalize and deliver its proposal "soon" to start work during the third quarter of the year. 

Open minded conversation

In an online chat to discuss the feasibility study, Jesabel Rivera, NAP’s chief community engagement officer, detailed the group’s survey of 3,000 participants on the issue as part of the study, going to events, plazas, remote towns and public gatherings in a wide variety of contexts to conduct one-on-one interviews with as broad a public as possible.

“The first question we asked was ‘How does the electricity program [the national power program] affect you?’, and we started hearing a lot of the same answers … the person [for example] earns US$600 per month and they have to pay US$300 on electricity,” said Rivera. “That’s 50% and that doesn’t include medicine or rent or water or anything.”

The pollsters then asked if there was any energy form they would oppose, Rivera said. “There was none, all they wanted was that it was cheap, that it didn’t hurt the environment, and that it didn’t harm health.”

With the third question, “Would you support nuclear power in Puerto Rico?” Rivera admitted thinking they would find only between 50-60% saying yes, but in the end, she said 94% replied yes. 

She said, "We didn’t ask, ‘Do you want nuclear power in Puerto Rico today?’ I myself would say no to that, I don’t want nuclear in Puerto Rico today, because we aren’t ready,” adding there's still a long road of planning ahead. 

But, she adds, nuclear does provide a benefit, it can be a solution and it merits discussion. “The idea is to start a conversation.” 

Memories of Maria

Memories from Hurricane Maria’s catastrophic impact in 2017 also play a role in Puerto Ricans’ mindset towards finding solutions, with the storm causing months-long power outages and bringing to light a flailing power infrastructure that often made bad situations much worse. 

One of the group’s founders, a seismic engineer, Eddie Guerra, listed hospitals among the most obvious applications of a micro reactor. 

“[A hospital] installs a micro reactor and for five to 10 years [it] never has to worry because their fuel is more than enough,” said Guerra. “That started being one of the problems in Maria, I remember so many hospitals that the fuel supply was cut then and diesel didn’t arrive … and people died.” 

Guerra discussed this among a variety of applications for micro reactors that could be small enough to be wholly owned and managed by a municipality or perhaps an SMR for a consortium of municipalities. Likewise, small reactors like those discussed could be used to power military outposts or manufacturing plants that would like to be able to run round the clock.

With respect to the study’s conclusions on capex and financing, “We found that they would be competitive and relatively low cost compared to natural gas and renewable energy.” 

Guerra indicated that, unlike energy generated from oil and natural gas, nuclear “is not at the mercy of the volatility of fuel costs.”

“The cost of the kilowatt-hour of nuclear energy depends very little on fuel. In other words, if uranium goes up, the impact on the consumer's pocket will be much less than if the cost of a barrel of oil increased,” said Guerra.