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Title: An Estimate of the Cost of Electricity from Light Water Reactors and Fossil Plants with Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/967740· OSTI ID:967740

As envisioned in this report, LIFE technology lends itself to large, centralized, baseload (or 'always on') electrical generation. Should LIFE plants be built, they will have to compete in the electricity market with other generation technologies. We consider the economics of technologies with similar operating characteristics: significant economies of scale, limited capacity for turndown, zero dependence on intermittent resources and ability to meet environmental constraints. The five generation technologies examined here are: (1) Light Water Reactors (LWR); (2) Coal; (3) Coal with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS); (4) Natural Gas; and (5) Natural Gas with Carbon Capture and Sequestration. We use MIT's cost estimation methodology (Du and Parsons, 2009) to determine the cost of electricity at which each of these technologies is viable.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
967740
Report Number(s):
LLNL-TR-416494; TRN: US0904560
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English