Nuclear drops to 14% of global electricity generation

[bananas]

http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2008/np2008.html

Nuclear´s Great Expectations
Projections Continue to Rise for Nuclear Power, but Relative Generation Share Declines
Staff Report
11 September 2008

The IAEA has revised upwards its nuclear power generation projections to 2030, while at the same time it reported that nuclear´s share of global electricity generation dropped another percentage point in 2007 to 14%. This compares to the nearly steady share of 16% to 17% that nuclear power maintained for almost two decades, from 1986 through 2005.

<snip>

But while projections for nuclear power´s future rose, its share of the world´s electricity generation today dropped from 15% in 2006 to 14% in 2007.

"The reason is that while total global electricity generation rose 4.8% from 2007 to 2008, nuclear electricity actually dropped slightly," Rogner commented.

The main reason that nuclear generation dropped was an earthquake in western Japan on 16 July 2007, which shut down all seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant - the seven units total 8.2 GW(e), almost one sixth of Japan´s nuclear capacity. There were also several other unusual outages and reductions experienced in Korea and Germany. Finally, the increases in the load factor for the current fleet of reactors appear to have plateaued.

According to the IAEA´s 2008 high projection, growth in nuclear generation will match the 3.2% per year growth in overall generation, and nuclear power´s share therefore will hold steady at 14%. In the low projection, overall electricity growth is lower, but nuclear power´s growth is lower still, and by 2030 nuclear power´s share of global electricity is projected to drop to about 12.5%.

<snip>

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Wow, this is great!

And all it takes is China building a coal plant every other day to take that big a chunk out of the nuclear ratio!

Hot diggity dayum I'm so excited!

Oh, and by the way... do they also make solar pool coolers for those 160 degree days we'll be eagerly anticipating when the CO2 level reaches, say, 1,200 ppm?

[phantom power]

2. You're not clapping very hard.

:evilgrin:

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Oh, I'm clapping all right! Just with only one hand!

The other hand is busy celebrating the inanity of this post the only way it knows how!

Wait, what? Did I say that out loud!

You bet I did!!

So how, then, am I able to post yet again while in the throes of a self-induced clean coal-gasm?

I taught my cats how to take dictation!!!!!

:freak::freak::freak:

[stopbush]

4. There's not enough fuel avaiable for nuke power to be a long term solution.

There's only 50 years of identified and mine-able/recoverable fuel available to power existing reactors. Build more reactors and they have to share that fuel, which means it will last for even fewer years.

Making nuke power a long-term solution is an EXPENSIVE proposition that ranges from developing new technologies to extract uranium from hard-to-tap sources (like sea water) to increasing the yield of uranium captured through existing mining operations. At present, the outlook for nuclear power as a long term solution is grim, irrespective of the whole issue of waste.

The amount of investment needed to address the real issue with nuke power would be better spent on solar and wind technologies, energy solutions with fuel sources that are limitless. Sustainable ROI should preclude any sane person from throwing any more money down the nuclear rat hole.

MIT issued a report on this in 2007. Scarcity of nuke fuel is the elephant sitting in the nuke power living room. Why no one talks about this is beyond me.

[NickB79]

5. "The main reason that nuclear generation dropped was an earthquake in western Japan"

"which shut down all seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant - the seven units total 8.2 GW(e), almost one sixth of Japan´s nuclear capacity."

And what stepped in to offset that enormous loss of electricity?

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-New_Japanese_nuclear_power_reactors_delayed-260308.html

"Tepco's Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture has been shut since being damaged by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on 16 July 2007. The company has since restarted decommissioned thermal plants to make up for the shortfall in nuclear generation."

snip

"Tepco said that it will speed up construction of coal- and gas-fired power plants in order to avoid a supply shortfall due to new nuclear power units being delayed. Under a business management plan announced today, the company will complete the construction of a 1000 MW coal-fire unit at Hitachinaka in Ibaraki prefecture and a 600 MW coal-fired unit at Hirono in Fukushima prefecture in fiscal 2013, one year ahead of schedule. In addition, Tepco will bring the first line of the second liquefied natural gas-fired plant at Kawasaki in Kanagawa prefecture into operation in 2013, some four years ahead of schedule."

[GliderGuider]

6. Well, it's not like the waste products from fossil plants are dangerous "forever", you know

Or that they get into the air and screw up the world's cli... oh. Um. Never mind.

I thought we were going to replace all the deactivated nukes with windmills or bunny-rabbits on treadmills or something. What happened? I just thank god we have enough coal to see us through these temporary difficulties as we transition to GreenWorld®.