Exclusive analysis, Part 1: The staggering cost of new nuclear power:
[Via Climate Progress]
A new study puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear plants at from 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour – triple current U.S. electricity rates!
This staggering price is far higher than the cost of a variety of carbon-free renewable power sources available today – and ten times the cost of energy efficiency (see “Is 450 ppm possible? Part 5: Old coal’s out, can’t wait for new nukes, so what do we do NOW?“).
The new study, Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power, is one of the most detailed cost analyses publically available on the current generation of nuclear power plants being considered in this country. It is by a leading expert in power plant costs, Craig A. Severance. A practicing CPA, Severance is co-author of The Economics of Nuclear and Coal Power (Praeger 1976), and former Assistant to the Chairman and to Commerce Counsel, Iowa State Commerce Commission.[More]
There are several other models for nuclear power plants that appear to be much cheaper, more stable and safer. The ones I think have some real potential are those based on Pebble Bed designs. The reactors are designed to be much less likely to fail in ways seen with current designs (i.e. overheating of the ‘core’ tamps down the nuclear reactors instead of resulting in potentially catastrophic explosions of steam seen in some current designs.)
These plants appear to be capable of producing energy at pennies per kWh but are still in the earlier stages so this could change. They are also modular, so that new capabilities could be brought on line. They are also smaller. allowing them to be used in regions that could not be served by larger plants.
Building new plants using older designs will not really solve our problems. But it seems that newer, creative designs may have a place in our energy repertoire.
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