Climate change is one of the grand global challenges facing the world community. With the global warming threat and the attendant public health risks caused by poor air quality and harmful fine particles, the two different energy sources-nuclear and renewables-may have found a common ground and thread to form an alliance to meet these grand global challenges. The latest advent of technologies enables load-follow flexibility of nuclear power, which has mainly provided baseload power, making nuclear energy an ideal partner for renewable energy, leveling the uncertainty and accommodating the unpredictability associated with renewables. The progress in small modular reactor (SMR) technology, which can be deployed to remote areas, can further facilitate the linking of the two energy resources. Some investigators have recently pioneered the ideas to inosculate these two energy resources with the aid of energy storage devices. This paper presents a series of case studies on meeting demand forecasts by coupling nuclear and renewable energy resources for various practical scenarios. The paper also proposes a paradigm shift in thinking in order to eliminate (or minimize to a certain extend) the need for energy storage devices in the combined energy production system by replacing the energy storage devices with some industrial facilities to directly utilize any excess power supplied by renewable energy. As an example, a desalination facility appended to the nuclear-renewable integrated system is shown to absorb surplus power from renewable energy to produce water, thereby satisfying the demand for both power and water in a typical small remote village. Case studies are also performed to extend the concept to include the effect of weather condition and seasonal variation in solar energy conditions. The promising role of disruptive emerging technologies in the nuclear-renewable combined system is also addressed.

The advent of SMR (small modular reactor) technology is enabling a resurgence of nuclear power with its flexibility for versatile applications. This paper addresses emerging areas of nuclear power utilization and presents two examples of potential applications. The study proposes a conceptual design of SMR-propelled vessel to help clean the oceans laden with plastic wastes by capturing and recycling them onboard. Another example of nuclear power application is to complement the limitations inherent in renewable power plants that are being installed at an accelerated pace around the world. Some interesting and challenging thermal hydraulic issues associated with these emerging areas are addressed for future studies.

This paper presents look-ahead energy management system for a grid-connected residential photovoltaic (PV) system with battery under critical peak pricing for electricity, enabling effective and proactive participation of consumers in the Smart Grid's demand response. In the proposed system, the PV is the primary energy source with the battery for storing (or retrieving) excessive (or stored) energy to pursue the lowest possible electricity bill but it is grid-tied to secure electric power delivery. Premise energy management scheme with an accurate yet practical load forecasting capability based on a Kalman filter is designed to increase the predictability in controlling the power flows among these power system components and the controllable electric appliances in the premise. The case studies with various operating scenarios demonstrate the validity of the proposed system and significant cost savings through operating the energy management scheme.