Global Nuclear Power Generation Capacity Decreases

December 8th, 2011 by Nicholas Brown

Nuclear power plant that uses gas pressurized reactors, hence the absence of cooling towers.

A new analysis from the World Watch Institute indicated that there is a global nuclear remission (opposite of resurgence) caused by the rising cost of nuclear power plants as well as the safety issues associated with them.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is part of the reason. Last year, nuclear power generation capacity attained a record high of 375.5 GW (375,500 MW), and this year, in March, the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan (which was out of control for months) convinced many people that they are not prepared to effectively contain a nuclear disaster due to the failure of Japan to do so long.

This may be one of the main reasons why nuclear power generation capacity decreased to 366.5 GW (a 2.4% decrease) this year. The World Watch Institute attributed this decrease to a significant decline in the demand for nuclear power.

Most of the decline in installed nuclear power capacity is due to the halt of reactor construction.

There is the possibility that there may be another nuclear resurgence in the future, but that is not as likely to happen as the last nuclear resurgence because nuclear electricity has become much more expensive in the past 8 years. It doesn’t compete economically with cheaper and cheaper wind and solar energy (and natural gas, which is increasing in price but is still very cheap).

According MIT’s 2009 Nuclear Power Summary, the cost of nuclear electricity increased from $0.067/kWh in 2002 to $0.084/kWh in 2009 and most of the cost of nuclear electricity is actually due to the capital cost of the reactors, which has been increasing at an average rate of 15% per annum.

The cost of fuel (uranium) is high (normally greater than $50 per pound, and can exceed $100 per pound), but due to the fact that nuclear power plants consume very small volumes of it, that doesn’t matter as much.

h/t World Watch Institute (via email)
Photo Credit: Ernest W Adams

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Tags: cost of nuclear power, nuclear generation capacity decrease, nuclear remission, nuclear safety

About the Author

Nicholas Brown writes on CleanTechnica, Gas2, Kleef&Co, and Green Building Elements. He has a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, and geography. His website is: Kompulsa.com.

nuclear ftw

i feel that it is not as bad as a fuel source as every one says but the people keep bringing it down
1. it is renewable
2. does not require very much fuel
3. it does make nuclear waste but is not as much as you would think compared to the energy
4. what happens when we run out of non renewable energy
5. most people that hear the word nuclear will automatically think bombs these are extreamly looked over so there will be no melt downs
6. if you have ever been to an airport the security in a nuclear power plant is even worse
BlueRock

The evidence keeps stacking up…

Nuclear = Dead Man Walking.
Unspoken Hermit

If we can use renewable/alternative source of energy efficiently then we may avoid our dependency on Nuclear Energy. Demand for power is going higher day by day and it requires comprehensive research to invent more sources of renewable energy.