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After a 10-year hiatus, the U.S. nuclear-power industry is poised to expand.
Three consortiums covering 18 power companies will begin preparing licensing applications this year for 14 new nuclear plants in the Southeast, according to Mitch Singer, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's policy and lobbying organization. A 15th plant might be sought by Progress Energy and Duke Energy, both based in North Carolina.
The last of the 103 operating nuclear plants built in the U.S. is the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar reactor, opened in June 1996.
Back then, gasoline sold for less than $1.30 a gallon, and natural gas retailed for about 41 cents per therm. Nuclear plants -- which had high construction, regulatory and maintenance costs, as well as plenty of opposition from environmental groups -- had trouble competing with natural-gas-fired generating plants.
Incentives to Build
A lot has changed. Natural-gas prices have soared, approaching $1.80 per therm in some areas. Congress also has reduced regulatory costs by streamlining the nuclear-plant approval process into two steps, reducing the number of occasions that opponents can try to block applications.
And last year's energy bill contained two big carrots for investors to help reduce the cost of raising capital for plant construction: First, the government will guarantee certain debt payments against unforeseen delays in construction and operation. Second, the legislation provides plants started before 2021 with a production tax credit of $18 per megawatt hour.
That translates into $5 billion to $6 billion of economic benefit, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute. Since the construction cost of a new plant will be about $1.8 billion, returns could be 30% to 36% from tax benefits alone.
The Contenders
Companies expected to send site-approval applications to the Department of Energy by 2009 include: Dominion Resources, Entergy, Southern Co., Constellation Energy, Exelon and Duke Energy.
The Tennessee Valley Authority also is expected to apply for site approval with a number of partners: Constellation Energy; Duke; EDF International North America, an affiliate of EDF Group; Entergy; Exelon; Southern Co.; the GE Energy unit of General Electric; Progress Energy; Westinghouse Electric, a unit of British Nuclear Fuels; and Florida Power & Light, a unit of FPL Group.
If sites are approved, each company will pick a plant design that has been pre-approved by the Department of Energy and a reactor manufactured by GE, Westinghouse or Framatome-ANP, a subsidiary of France's Areva.
Three consortiums covering 18 power companies will begin preparing licensing applications this year for 14 new nuclear plants in the Southeast, according to Mitch Singer, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's policy and lobbying organization. A 15th plant might be sought by Progress Energy and Duke Energy, both based in North Carolina.
The last of the 103 operating nuclear plants built in the U.S. is the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar reactor, opened in June 1996.
Back then, gasoline sold for less than $1.30 a gallon, and natural gas retailed for about 41 cents per therm. Nuclear plants -- which had high construction, regulatory and maintenance costs, as well as plenty of opposition from environmental groups -- had trouble competing with natural-gas-fired generating plants.
Incentives to Build
A lot has changed. Natural-gas prices have soared, approaching $1.80 per therm in some areas. Congress also has reduced regulatory costs by streamlining the nuclear-plant approval process into two steps, reducing the number of occasions that opponents can try to block applications.
And last year's energy bill contained two big carrots for investors to help reduce the cost of raising capital for plant construction: First, the government will guarantee certain debt payments against unforeseen delays in construction and operation. Second, the legislation provides plants started before 2021 with a production tax credit of $18 per megawatt hour.
That translates into $5 billion to $6 billion of economic benefit, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute. Since the construction cost of a new plant will be about $1.8 billion, returns could be 30% to 36% from tax benefits alone.
The Contenders
Companies expected to send site-approval applications to the Department of Energy by 2009 include: Dominion Resources, Entergy, Southern Co., Constellation Energy, Exelon and Duke Energy.
The Tennessee Valley Authority also is expected to apply for site approval with a number of partners: Constellation Energy; Duke; EDF International North America, an affiliate of EDF Group; Entergy; Exelon; Southern Co.; the GE Energy unit of General Electric; Progress Energy; Westinghouse Electric, a unit of British Nuclear Fuels; and Florida Power & Light, a unit of FPL Group.
If sites are approved, each company will pick a plant design that has been pre-approved by the Department of Energy and a reactor manufactured by GE, Westinghouse or Framatome-ANP, a subsidiary of France's Areva.
I think that Nuclear is a good choice for the U.S, assuming that the process still has public scrutiny. I believe that the streamlined process still allows for public hearings, and it's important for members of the public to enter a dialogue about the safety of the proposed plant.
However, assuming nuclear is safe, it's the best widely-used technology for generating electricity in the U.S. My studies suggest that nuclear can have an EROI of ~50. But even if nuclear releases 1/7 of the carbon a coal plant would release, these 14 plants would offset 12 coal plants.
I think it's helpful for us to be pragmatic about the environment when Republicans are running the country. If the economy is willing to support nuclear, and it's a dramatic improvement from coal, we should support it as well, while at the same time, boosting wind, landfill gas, and other sources of alternative energy.
If we plan on boosting HEVs, PHEVs would be a great way for us to let nuclear further reduce our dependance on foreign oil. Plug-in HEVs would let us plug our HEVs in overnight, and perhaps get 10-15 miles of travel gas-free.