The exorbitant half-penny fuel cost of nuclear. Density is the key t Forum: SSI-List
Thread: The exorbitant half-penny fuel cost of nuclear. Density is the key t
# 22262 byhitssquad on March 5, 2009, 9:45 p.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
> Nuc FUEL is not free
http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/nuclear_statistics/costs
"For a typical 1,000 MWe BWR or PWR, the approximate cost of fuel for one reload (replacing one third of the core) is about $40 million, based on an 18-month refueling cycle. The average fuel cost at a nuclear power plant in 2007 was 0.47 cents / kWh."
As noted below, the WNA quotes 2007 fuel costs even lower, at 0.449 cents / kWh.
> NUC WASTE definitely costs money
Maybe one hundredth of one penny per kWh. Spent-fuel is dense, and therefore its disposition is inexpensive.
> the power plant may not directly expense that to the customer
Actually, by law, it does. $0.001 is collected per kWh produced.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf41.html#wastes
"Utilities have paid over $19 billion into the Nuclear Waste Fund for this mostly through a 0.1 cent/kWh levy towards final disposal, so that by September 2008 it had accumulated over $31 billion, including interest. The fund is growing by about $750 million per year from utility inputs and $900 million from interest.
[...]
at 40 of the 65 nuclear sites pool storage is being supplemented with dry cask storage. Of the total inventory of 58,000 tonnes of used fuel, 10,700 tonnes is in dry cask storage as of early 2008. By 2017 it is anticipated that practically all nuclear power plant sites will need dry storage which will then hold 22,300 tonnes of used fuel."
Spent-fuel is dense, and therefore its onsite storage is inexpensive. Meanwhile, the "Nuclear Waste Fund" perversely continues to grow by over $1.5 billion per year.
> SSP has NO fuel cost
That is not directly relevant, and, in a way, not true. An SPS is a mining rig, and it catches some of the ore that streams past the earth. Mining claim real-estate, and mining rigs and their operation, all cost money and contribute to the generally high fuel costs of Earth-local solar power.
> NO waste disposal cost
The same comments as above generally apply to this.
> After adding all that to the cost per KW of NUC power
...You have added a grand total of about half of one penny per kWh.
> Once an SSP is built, we [...] have annual maintenance
Indeed. How much does that cost? Here are production costs for nuclear:
http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/nuclear_statistics/costs
"Production costs are the O&M and fuel costs at a power plant. Since 2001, nuclear power plants have achieved the lowest production costs between coal, natural gas and oil.
Fuel costs make up 27 percent of the overall production costs of nuclear power plants. Fuel costs for coal, natural gas and oil, however, make up more than 75 percent of the production costs."
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf02.html
"US cost figures for 2007 published by the Energy Utility Cost Group showed nuclear utility generating costs averaging 2.866 c/kWh, comprising 1.832 c/kWh operation and maintenance, 0.449 c/kWh fuel and 0.585 c/kWh capital expenditure (NB apparently not amortisation of the plants). US figures from a different source for 2007 published by NEI gave 1.68 c/kWh for fuel plus O&M."
> which ANY OTHER power plant will also have
I don't see any other commercial power plants in orbit. Should we multiply normal O&M costs by 1 million, to account for that difference?
> SSP costs [...] are only for construction.
No. SSP's have O&M costs, debt maintenance, decommissioning, waste disposal, etc. How and where are dead or shut-down SSP's disposed of?