TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND ......................................................................... 1 1.1 PURPOSE- LEGISLATIVE MANDATE ........................................................... 1 1.2 U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT STATUS ..................................................... 1 1.2.1 National Overview .................................................................................. 1 1.2.2 Current Status in and around Maryland .............................................. 2 1.3 NUCLEAR PLANT CLOSURES AROUND THE U.S. ................................... 5 1.4 CURRENT AND FUTURE ECONOMIC STATUS OF CCNPP AND PBAPS ................................................................................................................. 11 2.0 NUCLEAR ENERGY AS A LOW-CARBON RESOURCE ...................................... 15 2.1 IDENTIFICATION OF THE BENEFITS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY USE IN MARYLAND ....................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Climate Change/Carbon Emissions .................................................... 15 2.1.2 Other Air Emissions .............................................................................. 17 2.1.3 Economic Benefits to Maryland of Existing Nuclear Power Plants ....................................................................................................... 19 2.1.4 Other Benefits of Nuclear Power......................................................... 21 2.2 NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT ............................................................. 23 2.2.1 Safety of On-site Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste ......... 24 2.2.2 Waste Confidence Rule ......................................................................... 25 3.0 EMERGING NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES ............................................. 27 3.1 SMALL MODULAR REACTORS ................................................................... 27 3.1.1 Introduction and General Information .............................................. 27 MD PPRP i NUCLEAR POWER IN MARYLAND- JAN 2020 3.1.2 Status of SMR Projects Under Development Worldwide ............ 29 3.1.3 Operating and Deployment Status of SMR Projects ....................... 30 3.1.4 Joint Ventures ......................................................................................... 30 3.1.5 NuScale .................................................................................................... 31 3.2 AP1000 WESTINGHOUSE NUCLEAR REACTOR ...................................... 34 3.2.1 NRC Approval of the AP1000 Design ................................................. 34 3.2.2 Construction of Four New AP1000 Reactors in China ................ 36 3.2.3 Construction of Four New AP1000 Reactors in the U.S. ................. 37 3.3 TRAVELING WAVE REACTORS ................................................................... 39 3.3.1 Introduction and Background .............................................................. 39 3.3.2 TWR Simplified Concept ...................................................................... 40 3.3.3 Early Generation TWRs ........................................................................ 42 3.3.4 Generation IV TWRs ............................................................................. 42 3.4 POTENTIAL TIME FRAME FOR NEW DEPLOYMENT............................ 44 4.0 NUCLEAR ENERGY DEPLOYMENT IN OTHER STATES AND COUNTRIES . 46 4.1 NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE U.S. .................................................................. 46 4.2 POWER SECTOR CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS TRENDS IN THE U.S. ....................................................................................................................... 47 4.2.1 The Impact of Fossil Fuel Selection on Power Sector Carbon Dioxide Emissions ................................................................................. 47 4.2.2 State-level Trends .................................................................................. 50 4.3 PAIRING NUCLEAR AND RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE U.S. ........... 57 4.3.1 State Policy Actions .............................................................................. 57 MD PPRP ii NUCLEAR POWER IN MARYLAND- JAN 2020 4.3.2 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in South Carolina ................................................................................................... 57 4.3.3 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in Illinois 58 4.3.4 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in New Hampshire ............................................................................................... 59 4.4 POWER SECTOR CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS TRENDS OUTSIDE THE U.S. .............................................................................................................. 60 4.4.1 France ....................................................................................................... 60 4.4.2 Slovakia................................................................................................... 63 4.4.3 Ukraine .................................................................................................... 65 4.4.4 Hungary ................................................................................................... 67 4.5 PAIRING OF NUCLEAR AND RENEWABLE ENERGY OUTSIDE THE U.S. ....................................................................................................................... 69 4.5.1 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in France ....................................................................................................... 69 4.5.2 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in Slovakia................................................................................................... 70 4.5.3 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in Ukraine .................................................................................................... 70 4.5.4 Nuclear Operations, Carbon Limits, and Clean Energy in Hungary ................................................................................................... 71 5.0 POTENTIAL STATE INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT EXISTING AND NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS ...................................................................................... 72 5.1 STATE ENERGY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS.............................................. 73 5.1.1 Alter an Existing RPS............................................................................ 74 5.1.2 Clean Energy Standard.......................................................................... 74 5.1.3 Exclude Nuclear Sales from RPS ......................................................... 75 MD PPRP iii NUCLEAR POWER IN MARYLAND- JAN 2020 5.1.4 Experiences with State Energy Portfolio Standards ...................... 75 5.1.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of State Energy Portfolio Standards for Nuclear Power ............................................................... 77 5.2 ZERO EMISSION CREDITS (ZECS) .............................................................. 78 5.2.1 Experiences with ZECs .......................................................................... 78 5.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of ZECs ........................................... 82 5.3 CUSTOMER SURCHARGE ACCOUNTS ...................................................... 84 5.3.1 Experiences with Customer Surcharge Accounts .............................. 84 5.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Customer Surcharge Accounts 85 5.4 STATE PROCUREMENT OF CLEAN ENERGY RESOURCES ................. 86 5.4.1 Experiences with Procurements ........................................................... 86 5.4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Procurement .............................. 87 5.5 ASSIGNING A COST TO CARBON ............................................................... 88 5.5.1 Cap-and-Trade ....................................................................................... 89 5.5.2 Carbon Tax .............................................................................................. 90 5.5.3 Experiences with Carbon Pricing ........................................................ 90 5.5.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Carbon Pricing ......................... 92 5.6 ADVANCE COST RECOVERY ........................................................................ 94 5.6.1 Experiences with ACR ........................................................................... 94 5.6.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of ACR ............................................ 95 5.7 FEED-IN TARIFFS ............................................................................................. 96 5.7.1 Experiences with FITs ........................................................................... 96 5.7.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of FITs ............................................ 97 MD PPRP iv NUCLEAR POWER IN MARYLAND- JAN 2020 5.8 GRANTS .............................................................................................................. 98 5.8.1 Experiences with Grants ....................................................................... 98 5.8.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Grants ........................................ 99 5.9 LOAN PROGRAMS .......................................................................................... 99 5.9.1 Types of Loan Programs ..................................................................... 100 5.9.2 Experiences with Loan Programs