Record Performance By U.S. Nuclear Power Industry
Posted on: Sunday, 13 April 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Wagman, David
Nuclear power plants in the United States generated a record amount of electricity in 2007 while operating at record capacity factors, according to preliminary data from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The country's 104 operating nuclear power reactors generated some 807 billion kWh of electricity in 2007, exceeding the previous record-high of 788.5 billion kWh set in 2004. Output from nuclear plants in 2007 was boosted by the restart in May of Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) 1,155 MWe Browns Ferry 1 reactor in Tennessee. In addition, the industry implemented power uprates at two reactors: a 55 MWe increase at TVA's Browns Ferry 1 and a 13.7 MWe increase at Progress Energy's Crystal River 3 unit in Florida.
The NEI said preliminary figures showed the average capacity factor of U.S. nuclear power reactors in 2007 was 91.8 percent, up from the previous record of 90.1 percent set in 2004. The capacity factor is the ratio of electricity actually produced compared with the theoretical maximum electricity a reactor can produce operating at full power throughout the year.
The average production cost (covering expenses for nuclear fuel supply, operations and maintenance) was 1.68 cents/kWh in 2007. The previous low of 1.72 cents/kWh was set in 2005. The NEI said that 2007 marked the seventh straight year that nuclear plants have had the lowest production costs of any major source of electricity, including coal- and natural gas-fired power plants.
Skip Bowman, president and CEO of the NEI, said "At a time when consumers are confronted with rising oil and gas prices and an increased reliance on foreign energy sources, nuclear energy provides reliable, affordable and clean electricity. Nuclear energy emits no greenhouse gases during the production of electricity, and it is available today to meet rising electricity demand and fight global warming."-David Wagman
For more news, analysis and information on the global nuclear power industry, read Nuclear Power International, a new Power Engineering magazine digital quarterly supplement delivered to your desktop. Visit www.power-eng.com to subscribe.
Copyright PennWell Publishing Company Mar 2008
(c) 2008 Power Engineering. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Power Engineering
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