What is holding back the development of nuclear power especially in the USA?
Global energy markets are in chaos following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent energy sanctions imposed by Western nations. In this situation, renewable and nuclear energy have received a powerful boost: for example, on March 19, Belgium announced a ten-year postponement in the planned closure of two nuclear power plants, Doel 4 and Tihange 3 , while doubling its commitment to l offshore wind. In this case, the most interesting aspect is that "The extension of life" will only begin in 2026, however, in the short term, the plants will have to be stopped, and allows us to understand how difficult it is to reverse decisions already made, even with plants in operation.
The Ukrainian conflict also appears to have put an end to a stalemate over the financing and ownership of nuclear construction in the Czech Republic. The government has finally agreed to the CEZ utility's request for full government funding for the refurbishment of the plant, from the management of which, however, for strategic reasons, Chinese and Russian companies will be excluded. In Europe, only Germany seems stubbornly determined to continue with the end of the nuclear option.
But what has really struck us is the relative timidity of US nuclear energy advocates to seize this moment of great energy demand. while the Chinese want to build 150 power plants in 15 years, in the US now at most there is talk of looking for more gas. Why didn't the US start with a similar policy?
In a private energy system there are four connected factors that lead to the decision to build a plant:
- project funding
- plant management
- sale of energy or the plant itself
- construction of a new plant.
While Chinese plants are estimated to cost $ 2.9 billion per reactor, the latest US plants (such as those built in Vogtle) cost $ 17 billion per reactor. A figure of this size is financially beyond the capabilities of most power companies, as well as putting the cost of energy out of the market. American nuclear power is three times more expensive than gas and five times more expensive than solar and wind.
How to overcome the problem? According to some, simply by not calculating it, and considering that the savings generated from the point of view of the national strategic budget, including armaments, would be well above the cost of the plant, especially if designed for a life of 60 or 70 years. On the other hand, a technological change is needed, such as that envisaged by the new compact and modular nuclear reactors built by Terrapower . If energy becomes a strategic competitive factor then it should be compared with defense spending, the yield of which is apparently zero. And a good power plant, at least, lasts a long time and produces something.
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The article What is holding back the development of nuclear power especially in the USA? comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/cosa-sta-frenando-lo-sviluppo-del-nucleare-anche-negli-usa/ on Tue, 22 Mar 2022 08:00:48 +0000.