NUCLEAR: RADIOACTIVE ECONOMICS

This is for the guys at Oil Drum who were arguing about the viability of nuclear energy yesterday.

Uncertain US nuclear economics
Ben Lando, February 23, 2007 (UPI)

- The first application in three decades to build a new nuclear reactor could be submitted to U.S. nuclear regulators this year, but the economics of constructing the multibillion dollar reactors are not secured yet…
- No nuclear reactors have been licensed in the United States since 1978 or come online since 1996, though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to receive this year the first batch of more than 30 new applications…
- Christopher Paine, senior analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council and deputy director of its nuclear program, said nuclear reactors (like coal or any resource intensive sources) are unviable after factoring in the total lifecycle costs of building and operating -- economical, environmental and societal…

- A new nuclear reactor would cost between $3 billion and $4 billion, a large price tag for nuclear companies with relatively low market value compared to oil and natural-gas companies…
- Natural gas became the go-to energy source in the 1990s, spurred by the cheap supply. While the price has spiked and stayed volatile, natural gas plants can be built quicker than nuclear plants, keeping it the new build of choice…
- But..plenty of factors are playing right for new nuclear: there is a need for new generating capacity, oil and gas costs are high and volatile and those, plus coal, are being targeted for their emissions. Plus federal energy legislation in the 1990s streamlined the Nuclear Regulatory Commission application process and in 2005 created incentives for new nuclear reactors to be built.

- New designs for nuclear plants may make them easier for the NRC to approve and cheaper to build and operate as well. And while there is no solution to the national problem of storing the waste…A UPI/Zogby Interactive…found the vast majority think nuclear power is safe, more plants should be built and would support one in their community…
- …capital costs will need to be brought down to between $1,500 and $1,600 a kilowatt, no small feat…New technology -- including a reduction of on-site labor costs by increased prefabrication -- is supposed to help…Production tax credits and loan guarantees, highly touted yet somewhat unclear incentives of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, would reduce costs by 10 percent each…

- There's a growing buzz in Congress to regulate the polluting emissions of industries like coal and other fossil plants, either with an outright tax or cap and trade system. That would increase the costs of coal plants, nuclear's chief base load generation competitor…
- Paine urges a wider view of costs, beyond just the price to build the plant and the rates consumers pay for the electricity it generations, including mining and processing uranium and disposing of the spent fuel and building, operating and decommissioning the plant.
[If so]…nuclear power would be seen as having an incalculable price, Paine said.