nuclear-news

USA Nuke outages averaging above last year since June

* Nuke outages averaging above last year since June

* Outages seen dropping below last year next month

* Four reactors down for long-term work

By Scott DiSavino

[…]

Sept 28 (Reuters) – U.S. nuclear power outages over the last few months have been averaging well above last year and the five-year average primarily due to the continued shutdown of four reactors for major, long-term maintenance, according to Reuters data.

Natural gas traders follow the nuclear outages closely because plants burning gas usually make up much of the missing nuclear generation, especially during periods of high demand.

It takes about 200 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas per day to generate about 1,000 MW of electricity.

Thomson Reuters Analytics estimated that nuclear outages last week boosted gas demand by about 500 mcf per day, or nearly 1 percent of estimated gas demand this month.

There were about 16,500 MW of nuclear capacity out on Friday versus about 11,700 MW out at the same time in 2011 and a five-year average out of 13,200 MW.

But by the middle of October as reactors return to service, available nuclear capacity should climb above both last year and the seasonal average, according to Reuters data.

[…]

more here

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/28/utilities-nuclear-outages-idUSL1E8KS8G020120928

September 30, 2012 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized