Why are nuclear power plant's operation costs low
Favorites|Homepage
Subscriptions | sitemap
HOME > > Why are nuclear power plant's operation costs low

Why are nuclear power plant's operation costs low

[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 12-04-19] [Hit: ]
the only costs are the ongoing maintenance, operating, fuel, and upkeep/improvements.For most power plants, the maintenance,......
The vast majority of nuclear power plants in the U.S. have the initial capital costs already paid for. Therefore, the only costs are the ongoing maintenance, operating, fuel, and upkeep/improvements. For most power plants, the maintenance, operating, and upkeep/improvements are relatively close.

Well, no that's not really true. Nuclear power plants are held to a much higher standard across the board for quality, conduct of operations, and conduct of maintenance, so they are burdened by much more paperwork for the same jobs as compared to a coal or natural gas plant. At a coal plant if a feedwater pump needs to be changed, the pump is ordered and a crew of 10 guys (for sake of conversation) puts it in. At a nuclear plant, the same pump costs more because the vendors are required to perform more quality checks on it. Instead of a crew of 10 guys, it's now a group of 20 guys because there is a maintenance planner, a pre-job brief, a safety observer, and a pile of paperwork to complete that would make you cry.

So, as a guess, operating costs are about 2 times a coal plant. However, as the other poster mentioned, the fuel costs are about 1/100 compared to a coal plant. Rather than bring in a train load of coal everyday, a nuke plant needs a truckload of fuel every 18 months. I think that is totally cool.

-
The biggest factor is the low fuel cost. The $/KW is far lower for nuclear fuel than it is for anything but hydro and wind.
1
keywords: power,are,costs,plant,nuclear,operation,Why,039,low,Why are nuclear power plant's operation costs low
New
Hot
© 2008-2010 http://www.science-mathematics.com . Program by zplan cms. Theme by wukong .