Nuke power steamed efficiently in 2008; seeks to expand
by February 4, 2009 10:14 am 68 views
U.S. nuclear power plants in 2008 generated approximately 805.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity last year, a mere one-tenth of one percent less than the record 806.5 billion kwh generated in 2007, according to a report from Nuclear Energy Institute.
Sixteen of the nation’s 104 reactors achieved capacity factors greater than 100 percent in 2008. The industry-average capacity factor was 91.1 percent, just shy of 2007’s record of 91.8 percent, according to preliminary figures.
“As Congress and the new administration debate economic stimulus legislation and set their sights on measures to aggressively mitigate carbon emissions, the continued outstanding performance of nuclear power plants ought to remind policymakers of nuclear energy’s unique ability to reliably provide bulk power without emitting carbon and other greenhouse gases,” said Marvin Fertel, acting president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Fertel also said the struggling U.S. economy is receiving a tremendous boost in the form of thousands of new jobs associated with the new era of nuclear plant construction.
The NEI report included the following points:
• Average capacity factors for coal-fired power plants are about 70 percent; 40 percent for natural gas-fired power plants; and 30 percent for wind power projects.
• Nuclear energy supplies electricity to one of every five homes and businesses. About one-third of U.S. electricity production is generated by carbon-free sources, and nuclear energy supplies more than 70 percent of that clean electricity.
• Ten reactors last year received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to implement a combined 726 megawatts of power “uprates,” technical enhancements and modifications that increase the amount of electricity an existing power plant can generate.
• In 2008, the nuclear industry submitted to the NRC 13 new plant license applications for 19 reactors totaling almost 27,000 megawatts of potential new capacity.