Schlissel opines that solar and wind power, augmented by battery storage, are becoming less expensive. Hydropower and geothermal energy already are providing substantial amounts of power in many parts of the country. Cost-effective, proven technologies exist and can speed the transition to a carbon-free economy. Small modular reactors (SMRs) designed by NuScale are not among them. [Bias Alert: Schlissel has to be a pundant for wind, solar and even geothermal.
More than two dozen of the 48 Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) members have signed on to buy power from the NuScale SMR when the project is planned to come online in 2029. But a history of the project — and of nuclear energy projects in general — suggests the project is likely to end badly for utilities and worse for ratepayers.
UAMPS announced earlier this month that the cost per megawatt-hour (MWh), a unit of measurement roughly equivalent to the electricity used by the average U.S. home [a reference from a hack-site for wind and solar] for a little more than a month, has risen from $58/MWh to $89/MWh, a 53% increase. [Mostly caused by increasing gas prises]. Plus, the cost of power from the project would be much higher than $89/MWh without more than $4 billion in subsidies the project would receive from the U.S. government. Already, the total cost of the project has risen from $5.3 billion to $9.3 billion.
Nuclear advocates often claim that the costs of nuclear reactors fall after a first design, which (if true) would be very good news for the NuScale design. Unfortunately, the nuclear industry has never shown the ability to take advantage of a learning curve, and there is no evidence to suggest that it will be able to do so now. A 2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found the costs of successive nuclear projects are more expensive than the original project, which is very bad news for the NuScale design. (Note: the MIT study was focusing on historical costs/prices].
It’s also not good news for ratepayers. New reactor designs are already notoriously expensive and highly unlikely to meet initial deadlines. The Westinghouse AP1000 design at Plant Vogtle in Georgia, for example, was originally expected to cost $14 billion and begin operation in 2016. Its price tag has soared past $34 billion, and it won’t provide power until later this year. [Past circumstances, old history].
Think corporations like Georgia Power, which are posting record profits, will pick up the tab? Think again: Residential consumers have already eaten $1.66 billion of construction costs, with more on the menu. To be sure, nuclear energy has some advantages. It doesn’t emit carbon dioxide, takes up a relatively small amount of space and produces large amounts of energy. Its advantages, however, become far less apparent when the costs of a nuclear facility — and the time that it takes to build even a modest-sized project — are considered. [Note: These projects are like hydro-electric dams. They take a long time to build, they cost a fair amount to build (primarily becasue the huge regulatory load on construction). But the power it produces is reliable (unlike wind and soalr), and O&M costs are known, but not with wind and solar]
Proven, less-costly clean alternatives exist, especially in the western U.S. Geothermal, for example, made up 5.7% of California’s electricity generation in 2021; it was responsible for 9% in Nevada, and it’s being pushed as a much less expensive alternative to the NuScale project. [Bias Alert: They are conflating old estimates with current estimates, plus geotherma, as well as wind and solar are useful for local, western areas, but not for "The Grid]. Solar covers about 16% of Arizona electricity production and 6% in New Mexico. Almost 20% of Wyoming electricity comes from wind; in Idaho, the figure is about 16%.
The NuScale SMR is just another in a long line of overhyped and overpriced nuclear projects that take too much time and money — resources the planet doesn’t have in abundance if we’re serious about avoiding cataclysmic climate change by limiting global warming to 1.5⁰C by 2050. [BIAS ALERT: Mostly pure BS]
Small modular reactors may be viable one day — but they are not today, will not be tomorrow, and may never make as much economic sense as renewable sources of electricity. We should stick to carbon-free energy sources that make financial and environmental sense. [Schlissel is full of BS].
See following references, for the actual story:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJPymncJcynMCbWWSJEhh-g
http://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/ConfrontingBias.pdf
https://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/UCOM-Issues2020ShortSlides.pdf
https://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/BEYONDHYDROCARBONS-2020ExpandedIIRev.pdf
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