Nuclear power challenges and alternatives

I find it surprising that anyone should be considering building new nuclear power plants in the US when a simple, mature technology is available that can deliver huge amounts of clean energy without any of the headaches of nuclear power. That technology is concentrating solar power (CSP), which uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight and create heat. The heat is then used to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like a conventional power station. Solar heat can be stored in melted salt or other substances so that electricity generation can continue through the night or on cloudy days. This technology has been generating electricity successfully in California since 1985, and it currently provides electricity for 100 000 homes. Plants are being planned or built in many parts of the world.

The CSP technology works best in hot deserts. But with transmission losses at only about 3% per 1000 km, transmitting solar electricity throughout the US is entirely feasible and economical with the use of highly efficient, high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission lines.

Waste heat from electricity generation in a CSP plant can be used to desalinate seawater—a useful endeavor in arid regions.

The report Trans-Mediterranean Interconnection for Concentrating Solar Power , commissioned by the German government (available at www.trec-uk.org.uk/reports.htm ), predicts that CSP plants in North Africa and the Middle East will become one of the cheapest sources of electricity for Europe, including the cost of transmission. A large-scale HVDC transmission grid has also been proposed by the wind energy company Airtricity to optimize the use of wind power throughout Europe.

For more information about CSP, see http://www.trec-uk.org.uk .