July - September 2000


News Items

In response to the renewed interest in, and opportunities for, nuclear energy worldwide, the MIT Energy Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering have established the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES). Some 20 MIT faculty and staff are directly involved in CANES, which will coordinate and expand MIT activities in examining new technology options for future nuclear energy plants and fuel facilities. In addition, CANES will examine the best approaches to managing and regulating such facilities.

Directed by Professor Mujid S. Kazimi, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Professor of Nuclear Engineering, the center will also serve as a resource for examining emerging external ideas for improved or new energy systems. Additionally, the center will undertake educational activities, such as short courses, electronic offerings, and topical publications for a variety of audiences, including nuclear engineering and energy professionals, national and international policymakers, and interested members of the public.

Today, nuclear energy is one of the few options that can meet the growing worldwide demand for electrical power while maintaining air quality and avoiding significant emissions of greenhouse gases. Nuclear power plants, which provide nearly 20% of the world's electricity, have operated in recent years with increasing reliability and safety. However, intensive efforts to explore innovative technology essentially ceased during the last two decades. Major improvements in the economics, safety, and reliability of nuclear plants are now possible, especially in light of revolutionary changes that have occurred in materials and information technology and the lessons provided by the operation and regulation of today's reactors.

CANES currently has four research programs: advanced nuclear reactor technology; nuclear fuel cycle technology and policy; nuclear systems enhanced performance; and the international program for spent-fuel management. The annual funding of CANES is $3.5 million, with most of the funds provided by the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) of the US Department of Energy, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

On July 13-14, the Energy Laboratory hosted a symposium entitled "The Future of Diesel: Scientific Issues," held at MIT's Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts. The symposium opened with a session addressing the question, Where are we now? Subsequent sessions focused on regulations in the United States, Europe, and Asia; where Europe and Asia are going with diesel; issues on the road to clean diesel; and health effects and risk assessment. The symposium closed with a panel discussion of diesel's role in the future. Attendees included almost 90 scientists, regulators, and industry and public interest representatives. The symposium was sponsored by 17 organizations, among them oil companies, automotive companies, electric power companies, regulators, and academic organizations. An article describing the discussions and conclusions from the symposium will appear in the next issue of e-lab. The symposium was part of a series of annual conferences begun in 1993 for the purpose of informing decisionmakers about scientific aspects of important air pollution issues and improving communication between the scientific and regulatory communities.

The Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR), in conjunction with the Spanish utility Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico, organized an international workshop focusing on electric utility restructuring. The workshop, "New Energy in a New Century," was held on June 28-30 in Oviedo, Spain. An overview of changes in the electric industry was provided, with particular sessions devoted to the generation market, interconnections between regional markets, and retail sales and distribution. The workshop was well publicized by the Spanish press and drew more than 40 participants from industry, government, and academia.

In mid-June, Cambridge University Press released Markets for Clean Air: The US Acid Rain Program, a comprehensive description and evaluation of the US Acid Rain Program's remarkably successful first three years. The book distills more than five years of CEEPR research. Over 950 copies of the book have already been sold, and reprinting is likely in 2001. The book is of particular interest now because of its relevance to climate change policy. The Acid Rain Program involved the first large-scale use of tradable emissions permits to address an environmental problem. That policy approach is now being discussed at the international level as one tool for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. The book has received glowing reviews. For example, in an extensive review in the Journal of Economic Literature (September 2000), Peter Cramton of the University of Maryland says, "Markets for Clean Air is the definitive text on the US acid rain program. The authors' analysis is careful and convincing. The reader is rewarded with significant insights about a major environmental program....Both scholars and policy-makers will have a better sense of the virtues and pitfalls of market-based regulation after reading this book." Authors of the book are Dr. A. Denny Ellerman, Professor Paul L. Joskow, and Professor Richard Schmalensee of MIT, Professor Juan-Pablo Montero of the Catholic University of Chile, and Dr. Elizabeth M. Bailey of National Economic Research Associates, Inc. The 362-page book is available from Cambridge University Press, retail book stores, and web retailers.

Energy Laboratory researcher Marija Ilic and John Zaborszky of Washington University have published Dynamics and Control of Large Electric Power Systems, a new book that offers an advanced presentation of modern power systems, starting from a brief overview of their physical components through to modeling, analysis, and control concepts. This unusually comprehensive book fills a void in the existing power systems literature and can be used as a textbook as well as a major reference. The main topics covered are modeling the structure and components of a large power system, analysis of stationary and dynamic processes, and control and stabilization. Several chapters are devoted to identifying the objectives of operations and control as a function of industry structure. Examples are given for both regulated and competitive structures. Challenges such as transmission congestion provision and pricing are posed as decisionmaking problems for the first time. The 838-page book costs $175 and can be ordered from John Wiley & Sons (phone: 1-800-225-5945; fax: 1-212-850-8888; e-mail: custserv@wiley.com; www.wiley.com). Dr. Ilic, senior research scientist in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, leads Energy Laboratory research on problems inherent in restructuring the electric power industry (see e-lab, January-March 1998).

Subra Suresh, the R.P. Simmons Professor and head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, will receive the Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award from The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS) in recognition of his long-lasting contribution to the fundamental understanding of the microstructure, properties, and performance of structural materials for industrial applications. The award will be presented during the annual TMS meeting in New Orleans in February 2001. Professor Suresh leads Energy Laboratory research on new methods of measuring the mechanical properties of materials (see e-lab, April-June 1999).