Nuclear Plant Long Term Operation

Excitement is high in the Nuclear industry in response to the growing interest in developing new power plant projects in the US and abroad.

One of the reasons for this renewed interest is the good performance of the existing fleet worldwide. In the US, the capacity factor has consistently increased, reaching 92% last year.

Much progress has also been made in extending the life of the fleet worldwide, from 40 to 60 years, so far only the US there have been 54 license renewals with more applications on the way.

This renewed interest in Nuclear Power should also help power plant owners and government organizations to continue investing in the quality of the supply chain for successfully reaching 60 years and funding the research necessary to keep the current fleet operating up to 80 years.

EPRI estimates that the cost of replacing the fleet in the US will be above $500B. The cost for the initial research required to begin evaluating 80 year operation is estimated to be about $100M. This is certainly a very good payback and should motivate the industry and government regulators to fund the research as well as coordinate efforts to take advantage of research by other countries with nuclear fleets such as France, Japan and Korea.

The International Atomic Energy Agency should play a role coordinating global efforts for achieving long term nuclear power plant operation.

Obama administration's “lack of clarity” for a new nuclear generation...

The sense at the executive opening plenary at the ANS Annual meeting in Atlanta was that the current Obama administration continues to send mixed messages regarding its support for new nuclear plants.

William Burchill, ANS president summarized the current situation as a “lack of clarity” in terms of support for nuclear -- even though the industry has made a lot of progress in the last 5 years with 25 COL applications and 4 EPC contracts signed.

David Ratcliff, CEO of Southern Company clearly stated that we must expand nuclear, saying we need 16 more plants to just keep the current 20% contribution to US generation.

During Obama’s speech February 24, there was no mention of nuclear as part of a portfolio of solutions. In his speech in March from Prague, Obama did mention that we should harness the potential of nuclear power.

Nuclear is an under utilized source for U.S. energy needs. The Obama administration needs to come out strongly in support of a new nuclear generation and long term plan for the operation of existing plants.

Take-aways from the 11th Annual Electric Power Conference 2009

I attended the 11th annual Electric Power Conference in Chicago recently. Days of meetings and seminars left me with the following takeaways...

Renewable portfolio--
CEO's of utilities feel the renewable portfolio standards are okay but more thought needs to be given to the regional nuances before mandating specific percentages of wind solar and biomass.

Transmission lines --
Transmission lines need to be added to take advantage of renewable sources in the country. For example, to get all the wind power from the Midwest, you need to get it from that point to more populated areas that need it.

Nuclear --
There needs to be more government support for nuclear which is a critical base load generation source.

Cap and Trade--
The concern about cap and trade is that this could be opened up to financial instruments that may not be transparent.

What's Happening in Colombia...

I visited Bogota in May. Ecopetrol (national oil company) is becoming the growth driver for Colombia. Why is this? Well, the government's Plan 2015 will include investments of $60 billion over the next seven years.

Ecopetrol is investing $8 billion dollars to upgrade the Cartagena and Barranca refineries.

And, there is good potential for new aeroderivative gas turbines and gas reciprocating engines for distributed generation.

The country continues to thrive; there is healthy growth and a feeling of optimism. Even the real estate market has not suffered like that of the U.S.

I enjoyed visiting friends and colleagues in Colombia -- a country I spent many years in. I'll go back soon.