Nuclear electricity generation maintains viability

Published on March 22, 2019 by Douglas Clark

While several nuclear power plants have closed since 2010, preliminary data has determined electricity generation totaled 807.1 million megawatt hours (MWh) in 2018, representing more than the previous peak.

A report release by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted a combination of added capacity through uprates and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles allowed the remaining nuclear power plants to produce more electricity. However, officials acknowledge it is expected that the nuclear power output will decline.

The EIA is projecting net electricity generation from nuclear power reactors will fall by 17 percent by 2025 while the loss of electricity production from nuclear power is expected to be largely offset by output from new natural gas, wind and solar power plants.

The fact that nuclear power fleet maintained electricity generation near 800 million MWh for over a decade is attributed to a series of reasons, including several plants commissioning uprates, which involves modifying the plant to increase its generating capacity.

EIA recorded 2.0 GW of thermal power uprates between 2010 and 2018, which officials said is nearly the equivalent of adding two new reactors similar to Watts Bar Unit 2.

The examination showed nuclear power plants have shortened the time they are out of operation for refueling or maintenance, with nearly all of the recent reduction in outage duration is attributed to shorter outages for refueling operations.

Last year the average nuclear reactor outage was about 25 days. Nuclear power plants typically refuel every 18 to 24 months and some of the annual fluctuations in nuclear output are largely attributable to how maintenance cycles align across the fleet.