nuclear-news

A nuclear cost chain reaction – explosively expensive

So, the construction of nuclear is stalling and the costs are rising. Contrast that with renewable energy, where installations are surging, and most of the technologies are coming down in price as they mature and reach scale....

Nuclear power’s real chain reaction: spiralling costs, The Guardian (UK) Damian Carrington, 22 July 11, Time is money, they say, and the new nuclear power plant being built byEDF at Flamanville in France is now at least four years behind time and €2.7bn over budget. EDF blamed the delay on two fatal construction accidents and dealing with safety analyses prompted by the Fukushima disaster.

The new delays and bumper cost overruns of EDF’s new reactor in France make it very hard to believe that nuclear power can fulfil the promises its supporters make.

So what does the news mean for the role for nuclear power in delivering the low-carbon electricity essential to tackling climate change? The three ‘Cs’ of energy policy are carbon, cost and continuity of supply, and Wednesday’s announcement by EDF is relevant to the latter two.

The Flamanville fiasco shows once again that new nuclear power plants are not being built on time or on budget, diminishing the arguments in favour of them.

The only other new nuclear plant being built in Europe is at Olkiluoto in Finland. Areva, like EDF a state-controlled French company, told me this will be connected to the grid no sooner than 2013 and costs are now estimated at €5.6bn. That is four years late and €2.6bn over budget.

I wanted to understand better the effect of the delay and ballooning costs at Flamanville 3 on the ultimate cost of the electricity produced, and Jim Watson, professor of energy policy at the university of Sussex, kindly agreed to help.

The UK’s committee on climate change estimates nuclear power as the cheapest low carbon source, but budget busting comparable to that at Flamanville would make it the same, or higher, than wind power.

The details of his working are at the end, but the summary is that the cost per kilowatt hour has jumped between about 33% and 45% in the last few years. Watson notes that the cost is particularly sensitive to delays, as this widens the gap between the heavy capital outlay and the point at which money starts to flow back in.

So, the construction of nuclear is stalling and the costs are rising. Contrast that with renewable energy, where installations are surging, and most of the technologies are coming down in price as they mature and reach scale….

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/jul/22/nuclear-power-cost-delay-edf

July 22, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France