13-09-2017, 10:20 AM
The development of nuclear power began as a government program in 1945 following the Manhattan project to develop the atomic bomb of the war. The first nuclear reactor to produce electricity was made at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) in Idaho in December 1951, when the US has reoriented significant resources to the development of civilian use of nuclear energy. By the mid-1950s, the production of electricity from nuclear power was opened to private industry. The world's first large-scale nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pa., Was owned by the US Atomic Energy Commission but built and operated by the Duquesne Light and Power Company on a site owned by the utility company of Pittsburgh. Today, almost all commercial reactors in the United States are owned by private companies, and the nuclear industry as a whole has much greater private participation and less concentration than any other country.
However, the government continues to participate more in commercial nuclear power than in any other industry in the US. There are long detailed requirements for the construction and operation of all reactors and conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacturing, mining and milling facilities. The review process that precedes the construction of new reactors may take 3-5 years. The United States government, through its own national research laboratories and projects in university and industrial facilities, is the main source of funding for advanced reactor and fuel cycle research. It also promises to encourage the construction of new plants through loan guarantees and tax credits, although homeowners have to raise their own capital. US national energy policy is also closely linked to foreign, trade and defense policy on issues such as climate change mitigation and nuclear (non-proliferation) non-proliferation.
By the end of 2013, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was reviewing nine combined construction and operation license (COL) applications to build 14 new nuclear reactors, as well as three design certification applications for new reactor types (EPR, ESBWR and APWR) and two design certification renewals (ABWR). The NRC's fiscal year 2014 budget for the supervision of 100 operating power reactors was $ 1055 million, including six revisions of power (and other eight) and 10 renewal applications. The budget includes nuclear materials and waste safety.
State and local governments also have a major impact on the framework and economy of the US nuclear industry. Deregulation of electricity prices in some states in the 1990s led to a greater concentration of nuclear power production. In 1976, an electoral referendum in California led to a law banning the construction of new nuclear power plants in the nation's largest state and the ban is still in effect. The opposition in the state of Nevada was a key factor in the decision by the new Obama administration in early 2009 to abandon the government's long-term plans for a 70,000-ton geological deposit in that state for waste disposal high-level nuclear reactor that has accumulated at reactor sites across the country.
However, the government continues to participate more in commercial nuclear power than in any other industry in the US. There are long detailed requirements for the construction and operation of all reactors and conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacturing, mining and milling facilities. The review process that precedes the construction of new reactors may take 3-5 years. The United States government, through its own national research laboratories and projects in university and industrial facilities, is the main source of funding for advanced reactor and fuel cycle research. It also promises to encourage the construction of new plants through loan guarantees and tax credits, although homeowners have to raise their own capital. US national energy policy is also closely linked to foreign, trade and defense policy on issues such as climate change mitigation and nuclear (non-proliferation) non-proliferation.
By the end of 2013, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was reviewing nine combined construction and operation license (COL) applications to build 14 new nuclear reactors, as well as three design certification applications for new reactor types (EPR, ESBWR and APWR) and two design certification renewals (ABWR). The NRC's fiscal year 2014 budget for the supervision of 100 operating power reactors was $ 1055 million, including six revisions of power (and other eight) and 10 renewal applications. The budget includes nuclear materials and waste safety.
State and local governments also have a major impact on the framework and economy of the US nuclear industry. Deregulation of electricity prices in some states in the 1990s led to a greater concentration of nuclear power production. In 1976, an electoral referendum in California led to a law banning the construction of new nuclear power plants in the nation's largest state and the ban is still in effect. The opposition in the state of Nevada was a key factor in the decision by the new Obama administration in early 2009 to abandon the government's long-term plans for a 70,000-ton geological deposit in that state for waste disposal high-level nuclear reactor that has accumulated at reactor sites across the country.