Myth: Nuclear energy is 2 to 4 times as expensive as wind energy #
Facts: The International Energy Agency (IEA) concludes that the price of nuclear power lies in the middle between onshore and offshore wind [1]. In addition, system costs for wind must be added to ensure backup power plants that stand idle while the wind blows, as well as excess capacity.
So the overall picture makes nuclear power among the cheapest solution in combination with wind.
Myth: It takes 20 years to build a nuclear power plant #
Fact: The global average construction time for nuclear power plants is 6-8 years. Some have been built in just 3 to 5 years. Very few have taken longer than 10 years [2, 3].
The delayed construction in the west is due, among other things, to the choice of completely new first-of-a-kind reactor designs. One should choose to mass produce few and well-known reactor designs and standardize. Thus, the more we build of the same reactor designs, the faster it can be done.
Modern nuclear power plants, based on proven technology and standardized designs, tend to be built faster and more efficiently.
Myth: Expansion of solar & wind is faster than nuclear power #
Fact: Solar panels and wind turbines produce very little energy. A many more must be built compared to a nuclear power plant. The annual installed production capacity measured in kWh per per capita shows the fastest growing clean energy sources have been nuclear power and hydropower.
Furthermore, the nuclear plant has a much longer lifespan than wind and solar power, which must be rebuilt several times during the lifetime of a nuclear power plant.
Myth: Nuclear power plants are closed because they are not economically profitable #
Fact: Life extension of nuclear energy is the cheapest solution of all – even building new nuclear energy and renewable energy [1].
Nuclear power plants are often closed because of political decisions based on ideology and popular skepticism. Unfortunately, the shutdown of these plants leads to their replacement by fossil fuels, increasing emissions of greenhouse gases and deadly particulate pollution.
Myth: Solar and wind are becoming cheaper and cheaper than nuclear energy #
If you don’t include the cost of backup or storage and externalize the cost of all the extra transmission required, then the price is technically cheaper. But it’s price, not cost [4].
Myth: US scrapped their first expected commercial smr project due to high cost #
Fact: Although it is correct that Nuscale dropped the project due to high cost [4]. Doesn’t tell you much about the technology or why the cost became so high.
The US nuclear industry’s regulatory body, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have several specific areas where they slowing down or adding cost to the nuclear industry.
First, the NRC requires the company who is getting regulated to pay for 90% of the cost of their regulatory review [5]. This incentivizes lengthy review procedures with a large number of billable hours, since these fees pay for the operations and salaries of the commission.
Another major challenge with the NRC’s regulatory framework is their basis in a flawed radiation framework called Linear No Threshold (LNT) that dramatically overstates the impact of low-dose radiation. The way the LNT guidelines manifest is through their As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) guidance, which requires nuclear power plants to take extreme measures to reduce any possible chance of radioactivity exposure, leading to enormous cost implications in the design and building standards.
Myth: But nuclear doesn’t make sense in my country and its banned by law #
Cost does not justify a ban. How can we know to what extent nuclear energy makes sense in a country when the technology is banned by law. This prevents us from being able to examine it in our energy planning and investors from being able to make an actual offer and answer to it.
Sources #
- Projected Costs of Generating Electricity 2020 – Analysis – IEA
- Median construction time for nuclear reactors 2022 | Statista
- How long does it take to build a nuclear reactor? (sustainabilitybynumbers.com)
- https://www.energyforgrowth.org/memo/lcoe-and-its-limitations/#:~:text=Cons%20of%20LCOE&text=LCOE%20doesn’t%20consider%20all,to%20accurately%20represent%20distributed%20systems
- Deal to build pint-size nuclear reactors canceled | Science | AAAS
- https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/licensing/general-fee-questions.pdf
