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September 25, 2019 07:00 am

Nuclear Energy Too Slow, Too Expensive To Save Climate, Says Report

dryriver shares a report from Reuters: Nuclear power is losing ground to renewables in terms of both cost and capacity as its reactors are increasingly seen as less economical and slower to reverse carbon emissions, an industry report said. In mid-2019, new wind and solar generators competed efficiently against even existing nuclear power plants in cost terms, and grew generating capacity faster than any other power type, the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR) showed. "Stabilizing the climate is urgent, nuclear power is slow," said Mycle Schneider, lead author of the report. "It meets no technical or operational need that low-carbon competitors cannot meet better, cheaper and faster." The report estimates that since 2009 the average construction time for reactors worldwide was just under 10 years, well above the estimate given by industry body the World Nuclear Association (WNA) of between 5 and 8.5 years. The extra time that nuclear plants take to build has major implications for climate goals, as existing fossil-fueled plants continue to emit CO2 while awaiting substitution. "To protect the climate, we must abate the most carbon at the least cost and in the least time," Schneider said. The WNA said in an emailed statement that studies have shown that nuclear energy has a proven track record in providing new generation faster than other low-carbon options, and added that in many countries nuclear generation provides on average more low-carbon power per year than solar or wind. It said that reactor construction times can be as short as four years when several reactors are built in sequence. According to the report, the cost of generating solar power ranges from $36 to $44 per MWh, while onshore wind power comes in at $29-$56 per MWh. Nuclear energy costs between $112 and $189. "Over the past decade, the WNISR estimates levelized costs -- which compare the total lifetime cost of building and running a plant to lifetime output -- for utility-scale solar have dropped by 88% and for wind by 69%," reports Reuters. "For nuclear, they have increased by 23%, it said."

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