Japan says nuclear is the cheapest form of energy

[GregLocock]

Japan Sees Nuclear as Cheapest Baseload Power Source in 2040

Nuclear power is forecast to be the cheapest baseload electricity source in Japan in 2040, highlighting the government’s desire to restart the nation’s idled reacto…

financialpost.com

Nuclear power is forecast to be the cheapest baseload electricity source in Japan in 2040, highlighting the government’s desire to restart the nation’s idled reactors.

The cost of constructing and operating a new nuclear power plant for 2040 is estimated at 12.5 yen ($0.08) per kilowatt-hour, according to documents released from a trade ministry panel meeting on Monday. This cost assumes reactors will be used for 40 years at a 70% operational rate. The meeting was held to discuss the so-called levelized cost of electricity for each power asset, the document said.

Whereas of course the Australian idiots in charge say it is the most expensive.

 

[lucky-guesser]

Greenies: Electrify all the cars, busses, trains, tractors, etc.....but NO NUCLEAR....because that makes sense.

Nuke power plants should be ubiquitous. Not only the cheapest / kwh, but also one of the safest (lives lost / kwh produced).

 

[GregLocock]

I must admit that report is odd. Nukes last 60-80 years and have ~90% uptime. But their cost seems very low in that article, how have they captured EOL costs?

 

[GregLocock]

And then there's...

 

[btrueblood]

Cheapest baseload power. They are likely projecting future fossil fuel costs.

 

[EdStainless]

In S Korea it is the lowest cost base load.
Largely because they were rational and required each plant to be identical (down to every detail).
All of the operators and maintenace people train at one facility and can work at any plant.
Whenever there is problem, upgrade, retrofit they can apply it across the fleet.

 

[GregLocock]

Yup, that's the way to do it.

 

[TugboatEng]

Can you please have a talk with my shareholders. They keep buying machinery that does not match the rest of the vessels because they get a good deal on the purchase. Meanwhile I have to stock entirely new spares and the machinery has higher lifecycle costs and that cuts into my performance bonus.