nuclear-news

“URGENT” NUCLEAR POWER? THIS IS HOW LONG IT TAKES TO BUILD A REACTOR  CHARLIE FRIPP 05NOV 2015  Yesterday, Eskom CEO Brian Molefe said that South Africa needs to add nuclear power to its electricity generating capacity “urgently”, but the problem is that a nuclear plant isn’t something that came be planned, constructed and made operational in a short space of time.“We do not think that it is possible to continue with an energy mix that excludes nuclear. It is feasible to fund and operate further nuclear plants in South Africa and, in fact, it is urgent we do so,” Molefe told Parliament’s Public Enterprises Committee yesterday.

How long does it take to build a nuclear power plant, though?

Across the world, there are just over 438 nuclear reactors and around 149 nuclear power plants. Constructing these behemoths is no small feat, and we have crunched the numbers to determine the average time that it takes to construct a nuclear reactor. Not including the 99 stations in the US (because they report stats differently), this is where they’re located. [table and graph]

While various projects across the globe were a stop-start affair, the average time in construction for a nuclear reactor is 8.2 years. South Africa’s own Koeberg power station was close to pushing the ten-year mark for construction, as Unit 1 took 8.1 years to complete, and Unit 2 was just under nine-and-a-half years.

What’s interesting is that average build times are getting longer. In the last decade, for example, only China and South Korea have managed to build a nuclear power station in less than five years.

The other thing to note, of course, is that the while construction delays are almost inevitable for nuclear plants, cost overruns are the norm too (World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2015)………. http://www.htxt.co.za/2015/11/05/urgent-nuclear-power-this-is-how-long-it-takes-to-build-a-reactor/