nuclear-news

Despite approval of 2 new US nuclear reactors, the nuclear industry has ground to a halt

These US reactors are only happening in Georgia, where the electricity price is regulated. Elsewhere, the nuclear renaissance has ground to a halt.

building a nuclear power plant is risky and that risk falls on the banks and the banks are not happy with that.

There were only ever two firm orders for nuclear power plants in the West using these new designs; one is in Finland and one is in France and both of those are going badly wrong. All the other projects are no more than projections of what might happen in the future…….  And the industry needs China more than it needs nuclear.

 http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3428147.htm     No nuke comeback despite US approval of two reactors, Matt Peacock reported this story , February 10, 201 ABC Radio P.M.Listen to MP3 of this story

MARK COLVIN: In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved construction of two new nuclear power plants in Georgia. They’ll be the first nuclear reactors in the US since the Three Mile
Island accident more than 30 years ago.
While the nuclear industry is hailing this decision as a breakthrough, Matt Peacock reports; a so-called nuclear renaissance seems further away than ever.

MATT PEACOCK: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of the two
reactors was not unanimous. In fact the NRC’s chairman Gregory Jaczko
dissented, because the licences were issued without, as he put it,
“any binding obligations that these plants will have implemented the
lessons learnt from Fukushima accident”.

But as the first new reactors to be approved in the US since the Three
Mile Island accident in 1979, it’s immediately been hailed by the
industry as a landmark, ……
MATT PEACOCK: Not according to Greenwich University’s Professor Steve
Thomas, who recently authored an industry assessment for Platts Energy
Economist. These US reactors are only happening in Georgia, where the electricity price is regulated. Elsewhere, the nuclear renaissance has ground to a halt.

STEVE THOMAS: The promises made for the nuclear renaissance was that
nuclear power plants would be competitive with other forms of
generation. The cost estimates to build nuclear power plants have gone
up by a factor of six in only 10 years so something is clearly going
wrong on the basic economics.

There is also the additional problem of finance that particularly as
you open electricity markets up to competition you can no longer rely
on consumers to pay whatever it costs to build the nuclear power
plants. And that means that building a nuclear power plant is risky and that risk falls on the banks and the banks are not happy with
that.

MATT PEACOCK: What’s more, adds Professor Thomas, Fukushima recently
took Italy and Germany off the nuclear map, and it’s caused unexpected
problems in France, with the only reactors recently commissioned in
Europe now massively behind schedule and over cost.

STEVE THOMAS: There were only ever two firm orders for nuclear power plants in the West using these new designs; one is in Finland and one is in France and both of those are going badly wrong. All the other projects are no more than projections of what might happen in the future.
MATT PEACOCK: Don’t hold your breath, warms Professor Thomas, India is
problematic, and despite a recent burst of construction in China,
there was none last year. And the industry needs China more than it needs nuclear.

STEVE THOMAS: China currently gets about 2 per cent of its electricity
from nuclear power. Even if it kept ordering nuclear power plants at
the rate it was going from 2008 to 2010 by about 2025 it would still
only be getting about 10 per cent of its electricity from nuclear
power. So in terms of nuclear’s contribution to China’s electricity
needs it’s very small. So if they were to stop building nuclear power
plants I don’t think much would happen in terms of reliability of
electricity supply but if China stopped ordering, the bottom would
fall out of the world’s nuclear order book.

MARK COLVIN: Greenwich University’s Professor Steve Thomas speaking
from London to Matt Peacock.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3428147.htm

February 11, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs, USA