Exelon on new plants and uranium prices
01 March 2007
Exelon are looking to Japaneseexperience to demonstrate improvements in construction times for new nuclear plants. For current plants, the company is dealing with rising uranium prices by decreasing the enriched uranium product tails assay.
Details of current operation management and plans for new build were discussed by Exelon President and chief nuclear officer, Christopher Crane, at the UBS Natural Gas & Electric Utilities Conference in New York on 28 February.
Exelon, which owns 17 nuclear power reactors, is an active participant in the NuStart initiative to accelerate the construction of new nuclear plants in the USA. Exelon is undertaking due diligence on the two primary NuStart designs, Westinghouse's AP1000 and General Electric's ESBWR, but it is also looking to Japanese experience with construction of General Electric ABWRs, noting that construction could be achieved in less than 40 months. Crane contrasted this with the protracted constructed times in the USA in the 1970s and 80s.
However, Crane stressed that current plans for COL applications had "multiple off-ramps" should conditions not be right. If a COL application were successful, but Exelon decide not to pursue new build further at that site, the application and site itself could be sold. Exelon plans to submit a COL application based on a site in the state of Texas in 2008.
Crane said that for new build, the right reactor design must be available, there would need to be the right market economics, the right regulatory process needed to be in place, state and local approval would also be needed and there would need to be a "workable resolution" for the longer-term storage of used nuclear fuel.
New reactors that might come online in 2014 onwards would create additional demand on front-end fuel services because they would require complete cores in their first fuel load, rather than the third of a core routinely needed at each reload. Crane said that Exelon would encourage the US Department of Energy to release part of their fuel inventory to handle this additional demand on the market.
Exelon has looked at optimising front-end fuel costs. Specifically, current high uranium prices have cause the co mpany to reduce its demand for uranium. Exelon believes it is more economical to use more electricity to rework the tails assay than to buy more uranium. In effect, to produce a certain amount of enriched uranium it is economic to do more enrichment work than to start with a greater stock of natural uranium.
Crane believed the current uranium prices of around $85 per pound were unsustainable and that eventually the market would correct itself. However, he said current prices had not significantly affected Exelon's competitiveness and would not have a detrimental impact on the expected boom in nuclear construction.
Further information
Exelon
NuStart
UBS Natural Gas & Electric Utilities Conference