PCBONEZ wrote:I did the math on that a while ago. Too long to remember the exact number...
I took current USA power use and calculated how man […]
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gdjacobs wrote:If the US were actually producing new nuke plants in anything but token quantity. In reality, growth in generating capacity is made up almost entirely of natural gas, wind, and solar installations.
I did the math on that a while ago. Too long to remember the exact number...
I took current USA power use and calculated how many new nuk plants would be needed (at the size they typically build now) to fully take over the part of the grid that isn't already on nuclear.
The number was in the high 100's.
No one wants one in their back yard so it's years of pain to even get one approved and built.
I just don't see it happening.
.
<--nuke worker
2018 stats for the USA
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4178 Terawatt Hours net generation (all sources of power)
807 Terawatt Hours net generation (from nuclear)
If you were to build the largest AP1600 plants, these generate 38400 Megawatt Hours per day or 14,016,000 Megawatt Hours per year. (14.016 Terawatt Hours per year). So, you would need (3371 / 14.016) = 240.51, or 241 AP1600 nuclear plants. A single nuclear site can house multiple reactors, so it would be fewer than 241 places to build.
The GEH ESBWR is an approved USA design which could be built, at 1535 Megawatts net generation -- the nuclear plant I work at has combined operating license approval to build one. But, at a cost of around $9B, we've priced ourselves out of the large scale nuclear market in the USA.. too much red tape, licensing, safety system QA-1 costs, environmental studies, weather studies, EP-zoning, etc. Not to mention we don't have any of the factories left here to produce key parts needed.
The future for USA nuclear power will be small modular reactors where grid base-load demand needs it. They're modular, easy to transport the parts to site (rail/truck/barge), have a much smaller EP zone, far less safety systems (less engineering costs / parts costs), etc. These reactors are Babcock & Wilcox mPower, Holtec SMR-160, NuScale SMR, Westinghouse SMR.. among a few others like the ISMR, HTR, MSR, FNR, and eVinci.