Power gets cheaper as Nuclear-plants scale up

[phantom power]

This was timely, relative to current discussions regarding cost of nuclear power plants.

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Come July, India’s largest 540-MW nuclear power plant (Tarapore Atomic Power Project-4 — TAPP-4) will start commercial production by delivering electricity to the western grid even as Maharashtra is reeling under a 2,500 MW power shortage.

The cost per unit of power produced by TAPP-4 is likely to be around Rs 2.65. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) had three years ago refused to lift power from the Dabhol Power Company citing high cost—Rs 4.10 per unit—leading to the mothballing of the controversial $2.9 billion, 2,184 MW project.

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While the fuel cost in a thermal power plant accounts for 70 per cent of the total running cost of the plant, in the case of a nuclear power, it is only 10-15 per cent. “Since fuel cost is prone to escalation, thermal power plants are affected but in the long run per unit power cost in a nuclear plant comes down,” explained a DAE source.

The impact is felt once a nuclear plant crosses 10 years. Technically, a nuclear plant can live 50-60 years. The average cost of nuclear power, produced by 14 reactors, is Rs 2.50-3 per unit, comparable with thermal power but as the reactors age, the cost of nuclear power comes down.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=184712&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=0

[AndyTiedye]

1. 50-60 Years for a Nuke Plant? No Way!

The reactor vessel and everything else gets brittle from being
bombarded with radiation constantly. No way could a commercial
nuke be safe after running 50 years. More like 25-30.

[NickB79]

2. The last nuclear power plant in the US was started in 1979

After Three Mile Island, no new US nuclear reactors were started. Only those that were already started at that time were finished. Many of the reactors operating in the US today are older than that, though, with no incidents other than the one at Three Mile Island. The oldest operating nuclear reactor in the US is at Nine Mile 1, in New York. This plant has been operating since 1969, over 35 yrs now. And this is with building technology over three decades old. With the understanding we now have about how radiation reacts with the containment vessels, it should be possible to build a reactor that can function safely for 50 yrs or more.

[NickB79]

3. Dupe

Ignore.