Page 248 - Handbook of Energy Engineering Calculations

started delivering power to a utility system grid on July 17, 1955.
Nuclear plant-capacity factors in recent years averaged about 90 percent, a
high figure for any generating system. By contrast, coal-fueled steam plants
have capacity factors in the 70 percent range. A number of nuclear stations
are up-rating their output, adding to the overall output of nuclear plants in the

United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has numerous up-
rate applications it is currently studying for approval. Electricity generated in
nuclear plants costs less than that from any other type of generating plant

currently operating.
Around the world, at this writing, there are 439 nuclear generating plants
in some 30 countries. These plants are rated at 372 GW output. The 104
nuclear plants in the United States have some 100 GW rated output.
Construction of new nuclear generating plants in the United States hinges

on government approval of reactor designs by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. Meanwhile, federal government guarantees for loans needed to
build new nuclear plants are being sought by utilities planning to build such

facilities. Other countries around the world seem to have fewer constraints on
building new nuclear plants. Result? New plants are going on-line at a rapid
pace in overseas countries.
The consensus among design engineers and environmentalists is that zero
GHG emissions from utility stations can be obtained by switching to nuclear

power generation. But the rising costs of new nuclear stations is slowing their
approval by both private and government officials. One way to combat the
rising cost of large nuclear stations is to use small, mini-stations. Such plants

owe their origin to the nuclear submarines built in Russia during the cold
war. These mini-stations are liquid-metal-cooled reactors currently rated at
100 MW each. It would take more than 10 of these mini-stations to equal the
output of one large nuclear station. There is talk of mounting these mini-
stations on barges or ships for easy transport to areas of the world needing

emergency power. However, it will take time to see if nuclear mini-stations
will catch on with the engineering and consumer population.
Approval of new nuclear reactor designs by the NRC is a slow process. At

times an “approved” design is later changed and a new approval process must
be started. Again, construction cannot start until the revised design is
approved. For this reason, no new plants are under construction in the United
States at the time of this writing. For excellent information and the latest