Next Draft of MWD Talk 492001

1
Estimating the Benefits of Government-Sponsored
Energy RD
Baselining Benefits
Trevor Cook Office of Nuclear Industry
Analysis Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and
Technology March 4, 2002
2
2000 NE Strategic Plan
Our Vision
3
Survey of How America Benefits from Nuclear
Technology

• Nuclear Power
• Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics
• Space Exploration and National Security
• Industrial Uses

4
Nuclear Power
Note There are no commercial reactors in Alaska
or Hawaii

• Avoids about 175 MMTC per annum
• Production cost is 1.74, total cost 2.25 (3yr
  average)

5
Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics

• 10 million Nuclear-Imaging Procedures each year
• 80 percent of all new drugs approved each year
  result from research employing radioisotopes

6
Space Exploration and National Security
7
Industrial Uses

• Food irradiation lengthens the shelf life of food
  by killing bacteria without leaving behind any
  radioactive contamination
• Plastics and artificial rubber compounds are
  irradiated to make cling wraps and automobile
  tires
• Smoke detectors use tiny amounts of the
  radioisotope Americium-241 to detect smoke
  particles
• The airline, construction and other industries
  use nuclear materials to examine the structural
  characteristics of their products to assure their
  integrity and safety

8
Allocating Resources

• Maintaining Benefits
• Expanding Benefits
• Abandoning Benefits

9
On The Road to RD