As Price of Nuclear Energy Drops, a Wisconsin Plant Is Shut

[Throckmorton]

The Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin shut down for the last time on Tuesday, but it is preparing to break new ground for the American nuclear industry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/business/energy-environment/kewaunee-nuclear-power-plant-shuts-down.html?_r=0

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Headline says costs going down, article enumerates huge and growing costs.

What a weird story. Did the editor just make the headline up?

[bananas]

2. Very weird, maybe they mean the selling price, not the production cost?

From the article:

"Industry experts say that several reactors are operating at a loss while their owners wait for the glut of natural gas to disappear."

So nuclear plants are selling electricity at a reduced price to the consumer, even though their production costs are going up due to increased maintenance etc.

[FBaggins]

3. You've got it right.

They're talking about a "merchant" plant that sells power for whatever the market is paying at the time.

As the price of that power dropped, the plant was shut down.

So nuclear plants are selling electricity at a reduced price to the consumer, even though their production costs are going up due to increased maintenance etc.

In some cases... yep.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Ah - that makes sense.

A better title would be "Nuclear power unable to compete in an open market".
Duh.

[Throckmorton]

6. That is true in this market anyway.

Plus the cost of operating a plant in life extension was also a big factor here. There was just no way to operate another 20 years with much of the existing plant equipment. The replacement costs for new equipment are staggering and it just didn't make sense to continue operation in this market. Watch for more closings based on these same economics in the upper mid-west, where there are many plants entering life extension. The fact that this is a merchant plant just pushed it along faster than those in the regulated rate base.

Look for more closings forced by cheap gas in the near future.

[Yo_Mama]

7. That's right. n/t

[wtmusic]

5. The price of nuclear is going down, even with those costs factored in

but not as fast as the price of natural gas. It's cheaper to add more carbon to the air, so how can you argue with that?

"Lower wholesale power prices reduce quark spreads available to nuclear plant operators



Quark spreads—a measure of the potential profitability of nuclear power plants—have fallen in recent years largely because of falling wholesale electricity prices. A quark spread is the difference between the wholesale electricity price received by a nuclear power plant owner and the cost of fuel needed to generate the electricity. Since 2012, quark spreads in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic (see chart) have ranged between about $10 to $35 per megawatthour (MWh). Lower natural gas prices have contributed to lower wholesale electricity prices.
<>

• Nuclear fuel costs are more stable than fossil fuel costs. Natural gas costs, and to a lesser extent coal costs, experience more short-term volatility than nuclear fuel costs.
• Nuclear power plant fuel costs are typically much lower on a dollar-per-megawatthour ($/MWh) basis than coal or natural gas plant fuel costs: in 2011, the estimated average national fuel costs for coal and natural gas plants were $25/MWh and $36/MWh, respectively. In contrast, the national average cost of nuclear fuel was $6/MWh. As a result, given the same wholesale electricity price, nuclear power plants generally produce more revenue net of fuel cost on a dollar-per-megawatt basis than coal- or natural gas-fired plants."

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=10971

[kristopher]

10. The price of nuclear isn't going down - the value of nuclear is declining

It costs more than it ever did to produce.

[Throckmorton]

8. As of 1:00 this morning, the last fuel assembly was move to the Spent Fuel Pool.

So, how about Indian Point 2 running without a license later this year.

[kristopher]

9. The license is only a minor formality.

It isn't as if there is any chance at all of the NRC denying the extension; after all, they are a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Reactors R US.

[Throckmorton]

12. Agreed

I am not in favor of life extension, as it is currently allowed.

[RobertEarl]

11. Levy County Florida Costs how much?

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/analysis-levy-nuclear-plant-twice-the-cost-of-a-natural-gas-facility/2120372

Long, well written article about the costs of nukular vs gas plant. Florida and Duke are looking at building a new nuke and finally the press is not laying down and taking the word of the power company. New owner and all that, I guess. Plus Florida is revisiting the extra charge on people's bills for a maybe/maybe not new nuke.

We are talking some big bucks here, and the article does talk about how building bigger means more money in the power company's pockets.