Civil Nuclear2018

These days a lot of countries including oil and gas rich countries seeking to attain nuclear power

Civil Nuclear Power in the USA

(Updated June 2018)

The USA is the world's largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30% of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity.

The country's 99 nuclear reactors produced 805 billion kWh in 2016, almost 20% of total electrical output. There are two reactors under construction.

The first zero-emission credit programs have commenced, in New York, Illinois and New Jersey.

In 2016, the US electricity generation was 4079 TWh (billion kWh) net, 1380 TWh (34%) of it from gas, 1240 TWh (30%) from coal-fired plant, 805 TWh (19.7%) nuclear, 266 TWh from hydro, 226 TWh from wind, and 117 TWh from other renewables (EIA data). Annual electricity demand is projected to increase to 5,000 billion kWh in 2030, though in the short term it is depressed and has not exceeded the 2007 level. Annual per capita electricity consumption in 2013 was 11,955 kWh. Total net summer capacity is 1060 GWe, less than one-tenth of which is nuclear.

Nuclear power plays a major role. The USA has 99 nuclear power reactors in 30 states, operated by 30 different power companies, and in 2016 they produced 805 TWh. Since 2001 these plants have achieved an average capacity factor of over 90%, generating up to 807 TWh per year and accounting for about 20% of total electricity generated. The average capacity factor has risen from 50% in the early 1970s, to 70% in 1991, and it passed 90% in 2002, remaining at around this level since. In 2016 it was a record 92.5%, compared with wind 34.7% (EIA data). The industry invests about $7.5 billion per year in maintenance and upgrades of the plants.

Average nuclear generation costs have come down from $40/MWh in 2012 to $34/MWh in 2016.

There are 65 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) with combined capacity of about 64 GWe and 34 boiling water reactors (BWRs) with combined capacity of about 35 GWe – for a total capacity of 99,062 MWe. Almost all the US nuclear generating capacity comes from reactors built between 1967 and 1990. Until 2013 there had been no new construction starts since 1977, largely because for a number of years gas generation was considered more economically attractive and because construction schedules during the 1970s and 1980s had frequently been extended by opposition, compounded by heightened safety fears following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. A further PWR – Watts Bar 2 – started up in 2016 following Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) decision in 2007 to complete the construction of the unit.

Despite a near halt in new construction of more than 30 years, US reliance on nuclear power has grown. In 1980, nuclear plants produced 251 billion kWh, accounting for 11% of the country's electricity generation. In 2008, that output had risen to 809 billion kWh and nearly 20% of electricity, providing more than 30% of the electricity generated from nuclear power worldwide. Much of the increase came from the 47 reactors, all approved for construction before 1977, that came on line in the late 1970s and 1980s, more than doubling US nuclear generation capacity. The US nuclear industry has also achieved remarkable gains in power plant utilisation through improved refuelling, maintenance and safety systems at existing plants. Average generating cost in 2014 was $36.27 per MWh ($44.14 at single-unit sites and $33.76 at multi-unit sites), including fuel and capital, and average operating cost was $21/MWh.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said in December 2015 that "total electric generating costs at US nuclear plants have increased 28% – to an industry average $36.27 per MWh – over the past 12 years," including fuel, capital and operation and maintenance costs. It announced an initiative coordinated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to cut electricity production costs by 30% by 2018.

Coal is projected to retain the largest share of the electricity generation mix to 2035, though over 2002-16, while about 20 GWe of coal-fired capacity was added, more than 53 GWe was retired according to the EIA, due to environmental constraints and low efficiency, coupled with a continued drop in the fuel price of gas relative to coal, and tax policies favouring renewables. A further decrease to 2020 is expected, and most operating coal-fired plants are older than 35 years. Coal-fired capacity in 2015 was 280 GWe.

The EIA projects 13 GWe of new gas-fired capacity, mostly CCGT, coming online in 2017, adding to the existing 431 GWe, and with 2 GWe to be retired. This trend is expected to continue to about 2020. The predominance of CCGT is driven by low gas prices, strict regulation of coal-fired plants, though the need to back up intermittent renewables input favours less-efficient OCGT. Natural gas prices over 2015 to March 2017 ranged from $1.50 to $3.80/million BTU.

Given that nuclear plants generate nearly 20% of the nation’s electricity overall and 63% of its carbon‐free electricity, even a modest increase in electricity demand would

require significant new nuclear capacity by 2025 in addition to the two nuclear reactors currently under construction in order to maintain this share. If today’s nuclear plants retire after 60 years of operation, 22 GWe of new nuclear capacity would be needed by 2030, and 55 GWe by 2035 to maintain a 20% nuclear share.

Capital expenditure on existing nuclear plants peaked in 2012 due to post-Fukushima upgrades, and it declined 26% to 2015 when capital investment in operating plants was $6.25 billion, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.

The nuclear energy industry is having trouble competing against cheaper natural gas and renewable energy. So it's begun touting its low greenhouse gas emissions as it seeks public subsidies.

In the United States, there are 99 nuclear power plants operating today. The industry says more than half of them are at risk of closing over the next decade. To keep plants open, operators are lobbying for subsidies. NPR's Jeff Brady reports from one of the best-known nuclear plants in the country.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: Security is tight at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, where the country's worst nuclear disaster happened in 1979. Walk past the tall cooling towers, and there's razor wire, heavily armed guards and something that blows air on visitors to detect explosives residue.

BRADY: The reactor where the accident happened is still shut down. We're headed to the one next door that has generated electricity since 1974. The control room is like stepping back in time. There's green panels with analog meters, flashing lights and old-style levers.

DAVE MARCHESKIE: Everything is original. A couple of the screens are new. The only thing that has changed since the time it was built are the countertops.

BRADY: Dave Marcheskie is a spokesman for Exelon, which owns the operating power plant. It can't compete with cheaper electricity generated from natural gas and renewable energy. So Three Mile Island - everyone here calls it TMI - is scheduled to shut down next year. David Fein, with Exelon, says that's a problem.

DAVID FEIN: If you are concerned about climate change or concerned about the environment, you should be very concerned about the future of TMI.

BRADY: Fein heads Exelon's lobbying efforts and says nuclear plants don't emit greenhouse gases or other pollutants when they generate electricity. He wants plant operators to get paid for that public benefit.

FEIN: Whether that's a state program combined with a regional program or a federal program, you know, all of these things need to sort of come into clearer focus for us to reverse the decision.

BRADY: If policymakers can come up with a new subsidy program quickly enough, Fein says TMI could be saved. This strategy has worked for the nuclear industry in other states - Illinois, New York and New Jersey. At Pennsylvania's capitol in Harrisburg, there's opposition. Eric Epstein chairs the watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert. And he argues TMI should be allowed to close.

ERIC EPSTEIN: It's a natural winnowing of the herd. They're not competitive. They're an antique. They're a fossil.

BRADY: Epstein concedes that at the point of generation nuclear emits no greenhouse gases. But he says the industry's effort to rebrand itself as environmentally beneficial doesn't hold up.

EPSTEIN: If you consider nuclear green, then you have to ignore high-level radioactive waste.

BRADY: The federal government still doesn't have permanent storage for that waste. And Epstein says there's the environmental cost of uranium mining to consider too. Also there's the question of giving nuclear power plants public money that could be used for renewable energy instead. Abe Silverman is with the power company NRG, which opposes the subsidies.

ABE SILVERMAN: It really is this sort of philosophical battle. Are we building the energy economy of the future? Or are we just sort of keeping with the status quo?

BRADY: The nuclear industry thinks it has a good chance of convincing people to support its side of this debate. Ann Bisconti does opinion research for the industry and says a lot fewer people oppose nuclear energy now than just after the Three Mile Island disaster. She says many are in the mushy middle, which creates an opportunity.

ANN BISCONTI: When you see a whole lot of people sitting in the middle - really fence-sitters - information that they receive that they didn't know before makes a huge difference.

BRADY: Which is one reason the nuclear industry is talking a lot about its environmental benefits now as it seeks subsidies to keep more plants from closing. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Philadelphia.

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