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Wednesday, November 11

The Economics of Nuclear Power and
Other Energy Sources

Kent Williams, Nuclear Science and Technology Division
Roane-Anderson Professional Society Meeting
11:30 AM, Sagebrush Steakhouse and Saloon, 390 S. Illinois Ave., Oak Ridge
Contact: Kent Williams (williamska@ornl.gov), 865.574.8156

Abstract

Among opponents of nuclear energy high projected cost have replaced reactor safety as the major argument against the U.S. "Nuclear Renaissance" and the deployment of new reactors. It seems that not a month goes by that an antinuclear organization and its hired economist issue with great press fanfare a report stating that nuclear power will again be uneconomical, and that conservation and renewables will have a much lower future electricity generation cost.

Williams will give a short tutorial on electrical power generation economics with emphasis on nuclear. He will discuss his finding that it is not so much economic models that are in question, but rather the assumptions behind the input data. "Level playing field" economic modeling methodology can help ensure fair comparisons to non-nuclear technologies; however, the "level playing field" concept must also be applied to the major overarching assumptions, such as the inclusion of socioeconomic costs or "externalities" and the extent to which the electrical grid can accommodate large generation capacity additions for a particular generation technology. In many cases, one ends up comparing "apples and oranges".

Some economic comparisons to wind, coal, natural gas, biomass, and solar generation will be shown, along with some of the environmental impacts for each. The speaker will discuss his opinion that along with greenhouse gas avoidance, the high energy density (kilowatt-hours per kg of fuel) for nuclear (compared to other generation sources) are the "trump cards" that will make nuclear power competitive despite its high capital cost.

Kent Williams works in the Nuclear Science and Technology Division at ORNL in the Advanced Reactor Systems and Safety Group. Originally from the Chicago IL area, Williams has BS and MS degrees from Purdue University in Chemical Engineering. He also worked as a co-op student and summer student at Argonne National Laboratory in the mid 1960s. His PhD in Chemical Engineering is from UT Knoxville (1984). He has worked 15 years at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (K-25) and nearly 25 at ORNL. At both locations he has been involved in technical and economic feasibility analysis for both nuclear and non-nuclear systems and process technologies.

He is a member of the DOE-Nuclear Energy Fuel Cycle R&D Systems Analysis Working Group and the International Generation IV Reactors Economic Modeling Working Group. Recent studies have dealt with economic comparisons of today's "once-through" LWR fuel cycle with future "symbiotic" fuel cycles that require the use of fast reactors to "burn" the actinides resulting from the reprocessing of LWR spent fuel. Kent and his wife Joyce now reside in the Hardin Valley area.