The U.S. is the largest
nuclear energy producer
in the world, with 30%
of all nuclear power
produced globally.
But the numbers are in decline.
because more nuclear plants
are going offline than are being
constructed.
And existing nuclear plants
are relying more heavily
on state government
subsidies than ever before.
This year, nuclear fuel storage
cost U.S. citizens only $35 million,
but prices are expected to rise
exponentially in the future.
New nuclear power plants
would have extremely high
capital costs, and high
operating costs too.
Capital costs:
- site preparation,
- engineering,
- manufacturing,
- construction,
- commissioning, and
- financing.
Operating costs:
- fuel costs
---- uranium mining
---- fuel fabrication
- maintenance,
- decommissioning
- waste disposal.
The capital costs for nuclear
power production are much higher
than coal and natural gas power.
The extremely high cost
of building a new
nuclear power plant,
makes nuclear energy
unable to compete
in the U.S. energy market.
Cheap U.S. natural gas
priced nuclear out of the
power generation market.
Despite the very high cost,
nuclear has ultra-low emissions,
and high energy efficiency.
Problem 1:
There has not been a standard design
for building new nuclear plants,
especially in the United States.
Perhaps from the use of small
modular reactors, built off-site,
then transported to the plant site
for installation.
These simplified reactors
should also have lower
operating and maintenance
costs.
The risk, and cost, of
nuclear waste management,
could be addressed
by Artificial Intelligence,
with robots as the unpaid
workforce, for one of the
world’s most dangerous jobs.