--- title: Modeling the Dynamic Complexity of the Energy Policymaking Process description: Explore the dynamic complexity of energy policymaking and the role of nuclear power in future electricity generation in the United States. --- [![CAnes logo\[96\]](https://canes.mit.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/CAnes%20logo%5B96%5D.png?width=300&height=91&name=CAnes%20logo%5B96%5D.png "CAnes logo[96]")](https://canes.mit.edu/) [![canes](https://canes.mit.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/canes.png?width=300&height=91&name=canes.png "canes")](https://canes.mit.edu/) [![](https://canes.mit.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/canes.png?width=500&height=152&name=canes.png)](https://canes.mit.edu/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. - [the center](https://canes.mit.edu/center) - [science + engineering](https://canes.mit.edu/science-engineering) - [E+ Lab](https://canes.mit.edu/epluslab) - [publications](https://canes.mit.edu/reports) - [events](https://canes.mit.edu/events) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # Modeling the Dynamic Complexity of the Energy Policymaking Process by [MIT CANES](https://canes.mit.edu/media/author/mit-canes) | Sep 20, 2024 Report Date: March 2002 Appendices: No Abstract Although nuclear power is an important part of worldwide electric energy production, no new nuclear power plants have been ordered in the United States and in most occidental countries during the last three decades. There are many concerns about nuclear energy that continue to limit its growth and which resolution is more a social/political challenge that a technical one. Among these concerns are its economy, safety, proliferation, and nuclear waste management. The nuclear industry must learn how to influence the social/political system in order to create a favorable nuclear future. To understand the energy policymaking process and how its influential factors affect it, it is necessary to have a common vision of the system and a simulation a tool with which strategic studies can be conducted. The proposal of this report is to use the concept of system dynamics to draw the cause-and-effect loops around the energy policymaking system and to build a simulation tool with which to analyze the results of simulating of hypothetical scenarios. In this report, we present a model of the energy policymaking process. Results of simulations made using this model show that nuclear power plants are likely to become the dominant means of electricity generation in the United States provided that an ultimate repository for nuclear waste is open. This result derives mainly from the increasing concern on the greenhouse effect and from the high cost of wind turbines. At present, the main efforts of the nuclear industry should reside on decreasing its capital costs and letting the greenhouse effect been a major problem. Program:     NSP Nuclear Systems Enhanced Performance Type:     TR  RPT. No.: 8 [BACK TO THE CENTER->](https://canes.mit.edu/center) Topics:   [NSP Nuclear Systems Enhanced Performance](https://canes.mit.edu/media/tag/nsp-nuclear-systems-enhanced-performance) Recent posts [Nuclear Energy Dominance: Can the US do it Alone?](https://canes.mit.edu/media/energy-dominance-can-the-us-do-it-alone) [Assessment of the Lifecycle Cost of Nuclear Grade Coolants for Advanced Reactors](https://canes.mit.edu/media/assessment-of-the-lifecycle-cost-of-nuclear-grade-coolants) [Bilge Yildiz and Jacopo Buongiorno Take Nuclear-Fueled AI to TEDx](https://canes.mit.edu/media/bilge-yildiz-and-jacopo-buongiorno-take-nuclear-fueled-ai-to-tedx) [Levelized Cost of Fuel (LCOF) Studies for Microreactors Using TRISO Fuel in Hydride and Beryllium-based composite Moderators in Open and Closed Fuel Cycles](https://canes.mit.edu/media/a-preliminary-study-on-the-feasibility-of-nuclear-batteries-for-offshore-power-generation-0) [A Preliminary Study on the Feasibility of Nuclear Batteries for Offshore Power Generation](https://canes.mit.edu/media/a-preliminary-study-on-the-feasibility-of-nuclear-batteries-for-offshore-power-generation) [![CAnes logo\[96\]](https://canes.mit.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/CAnes%20logo%5B96%5D.png?width=3300&height=1000&name=CAnes%20logo%5B96%5D.png "CAnes logo[96]")](https://canes.mit.edu/) 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 24-215 Cambridge, MA 02139 [canes@mit.edu](mailto:canes@mit.edu) - [ACCESSIBILITY](https://accessibility.mit.edu/) - [MEDIA](https://canes.mit.edu/center-media) - [CENTER](https://canes.mit.edu/center) - [EVENTS](https://canes.mit.edu/events) - [MAP](http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=24) - [MIT CCSE](https://cse.mit.edu/) - [MIT ENERGY INITIATIVE](https://energy.mit.edu/) - [MIT MECHE](http://meche.mit.edu/) - [MIT NRL](http://nrl.mit.edu/) - [MIT NSE](http://web.mit.edu/nse/) - [MIT PSFC](https://www.psfc.mit.edu/) © 2024 Massachusetts Institute of Technology   |  Privacy Policy