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.
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.
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