NEI's Nuclear Performance

NEI's Nuclear Performance - July 2007

Here's a summary of U.S. nuclear plant performances last month:

For July 2007, the average net capacity factor reached 97.4 percent. This figure is 0.5 percentage points higher than the same one-month period in 2006. Monthly nuclear generation was 72.6 billion kilowatt-hours for July 2007, compared to 72.2 bkWh for the same one-month period in 2006.

For 2007, year-to-date nuclear generation was 468.3 billion kilowatt-hours, compared to 459.2 bkWh in 2006 (2.0 percent increase) and 461.4 bkWh in the record year of 2004.

With the exception of April 2006, nuclear generation in every month of 2007 has surpassed that of the same one-month periods for 2005 and 2006.

The Energy Information Administration recently analyzed the impacts of proposed climate change legislation by Senators Lieberman and McCain. The results forecast that nuclear plant capacity in the U.S. would grow from 100 GW to 246 GW by 2030. The proposed legislation would establish a series of caps on greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2012 followed by increasingly stringent caps beginning in 2020, 2030 and 2050.

For the report click here (pdf). It is also located on NEI's Financial Center webpage.

Comments

Anonymous said…

I can't seem to download the .pdf file of the monthly report. I keep getting a "connection timed out" error. I just upgraded to Adobe reader 8.1.

August 24, 2007 at 12:34 AM

Anonymous said…

Okay. It works now. Thanks.

August 24, 2007 at 12:46 PM

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

How Much Land Does Nuclear, Wind and Solar Really Need?

Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog