Testimony to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resorces. Subcommittee on Energy Research and Development May 5, 1986 Dr. W. H. Arnold, General Manager I am Howard Arnold, General Manager of the Advanced Energy Systems Division of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Since joining Westinghouse in 1955, I have been personally involved in technical and management positions in our PWR reactor programs both domestic and international, our NERVA program for development of compact gas reactors for nuclear rockets, and our liquid metal reactor development programs. At the Advanced Energy Systems Division, we are designing and developing advanced reactors liquid metal, light water, and gas cooled - for terrestial and space applications. I welcome this opportunity to testify on the need for the DOE civilian reactor development program and the issues this program must address. Westinghouse has also participated in the review of the program by the Energy Research and Advisory Board. I will concentrate my remarks today on the LWR and the Liquid Metal Reactor (LMR). Need for Restoration of LWR and Realization of its Potential I will begin by reviewing the importance to the nation of the restoration of the LWR and full realization of its potential. Nuclear generated electricity is essential to the energy security and economic well-being of our society. It is a technology the United States cannot afford to lose and the LWR must be restored as a first priority; otherwise, there is no logical basis for an - 2 advanced reactor program. There are now 374 nuclear plants operating in 26 countries worldwide, producing approximately 15% of the world's electricity. European and Far East nations have large and expanding nuclear electricity programs, based in large part on the LWR technology and designs developed in the United States. The 98 plants in the U.S. produced 15% of our electricity in 1985, but there have been no new orders since 1978. Two major studies carried out in 1985 by the Edison Electric Institute and the Atomic Industrial Forum found a general consensus that there will not be another domestic nuclear plant order under current conditions. We believe that the ERAB review of the DOE civilian reactor program will reinforce these conclusions. In particular, there is strong conviction from these reviews that the arduous Federal regulatory process has become a major component of the institutional impediment to nuclear deployment and DOE has a major responsibility to be part of the solution. Required Areas for Reform areas Restoring the LWR requires that we have reforms in three design, construction and licensing; the development activities of Westinghouse have their foundation in these areas. In our view, the DOE reactor development program must emphasize these elements and support the activities of the industry in advancing these reforms. The focus must be on advancing the - 3 technology in these areas as a logical extrapolation of the current broad base of LWR design, licensing, construction and operating experience. The Westinghouse program for development of the next generation of LWR designs the Advanced Pressurized Water - Reactor (APWR) is a major cooperative effort with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan and a consortium of Japanese utilities. We and our Japanese partners are committed to completing this advanced design and building it in Japan in the not-too-distant future. Our incentive for developing this design is the need to remain competitive in international markets. The DOE program should build on these and similar efforts by our competitors in a way that supports and complements them for domestic applications and should have the following focus: 1. Simplification and incorporation of advanced features for improved constructability, reliability, operability, maintainability and reduced plant cost. 2. Development of advanced technologies for application to future plant designs, for example, utilization of artificial intelligence applications in advanced control room design and operations. The direct focus of these development efforts within the existing LWR frame of reference will expedite their early application to future plants. With regard to the licensing and regulatory process, "one-step licensing" could bring about significant improvements. Westinghouse has also developed an approach based on a partnership among the utility, regulators, suppliers, and financiers. Its implementation requires that at least 80 percent of the detailed engineering be complete prior to the issuance of a construction permit and the subsequent initiation of plant construction. We believe that the use of this pre-designed, pre-approved approach will avoid costly delays during construction as well as in obtaining an operating license. Responsiveness of DOE LWR Program - Against this background, we have reviewed in detail the DOE LWR Program for FY '87. We find that it has the major elements needed the factors influencing licensing and regulatory and the work needed to simplify designs, improve designs and verify designs through the licensing process to be ready when orders develop from the utility industry. This latter program and the recently initiated DOE Advanced Light Water Reactor (ALWR) programs are also complementary to the EPRI initiatives on the LWR. The funding proposed is $29M $11M on safety and licensing and $18M on the design and development and is essential |