OSU prof: New era of nuclear power may be at hand
ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - Along the Columbia River there's a hole in the skyline where the Trojan nuclear plant used to be. But Oregon State University professor OSU professor Brian Woods says he thinks nuclear power will be back when the nation's future energy needs are met.
"I think we stack up very well against all other types of energy sources," Woods told Albany business leaders last week. "Nuclear emits the lowest amount of carbon dioxide, lower than solar and wind, because of the manufacturing processes used in making those systems."
An associate professor in the Department of Engineering and Radiation Health Physics, Woods said many who have opposed nuclear power are looking at it differently.
"Now, even environmentalists are concluding that it has to play a role in our energy future," he said.
He pointed to reactor designs being developed at OSU that address safety, cost and environmental issues. "The problems are solvable from an engineering perspective," he said.
According to Woods, smaller reactors that use no pumps, reactors that can be operated without direct human involvement, and very high temperature gas reactors cooled with helium rather than water will play a role.
"The helium-cooled reactors are exciting because they could be used to create hydrogen cheaply," Woods said. "Hydrogen is being considered as a future transportation resource and possible substitute for gas."
Woods said competition for energy is only going to increase.
"There is going to be a lot of pressure on limited resources," he said.
Woods says he sees nuclear as the best overall option to ease that pressure.
"It's not free. Every type of energy production has some sort of waste product. But you could fit every ounce of nuclear waste from the last 60 years onto one football field," Woods said.
Recycling efforts and improved safety solutions like those being studied at OSU can overcome many of the reservations about the industry, he said.
"The technicians coming out of high school and college right now can solve the problems."
Information from: Albany Democrat-Herald,
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