U. S. commercial nuclear power: a status report

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

OSTI ID:5433389

Cleark, R G; Reynolds, A W

The current and forecasted status of the domestic nuclear power program is discussed in the context of the proposed National Energy Plan. Nuclear power is expected to increase its contribution to the Nation's electricity generation from 9.4 percent in 1976 to 13 percent in 1980 and 18 percent in 1985. Indigenous uranium reserves and resources appear adequate to allow a continued expansion of the national reactor system, but the annual production capacity of the domestic uranium industry must be significantly expanded to support this generating forecast. U.S. uranium enrichment capacity will also be adequate if ongoing expansion programs and the planned Portsmouth centrifuge addition are realized. However, domestic uranium demand and price, and the Administration's desire to accept new orders for enrichment services, are sensitive to Energy Research and Development Administration's enrichment contract stipulations and plant operating modes. Current U.S. policy has resulted in the deferral of the plutonium and uranium recycle option for the intermediate future, and a shift in post-reactor attention from reprocessing-recycle to unresolved programs for spent fuel storage and radioactive waste management. The comparative economics of nuclear-fueled and coal-fired generating systems vary among geographical regions, but generally, costs are so similar that modest changes in fuel or operating parameters could reverse the relative advantage of one option over the other.

• Research Organization: Federal Energy Administration, Washington, D.C. (USA); Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, Inc., Washington, D.C. (USA). Current Cancer Research Project Analysis Center
• OSTI ID: 5433389
• Report Number(s): PB-272081; FEA/B-77/390
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COST
ECONOMICS
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SOURCES
FORECASTING
FOSSIL FUELS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUELS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR POWER
PLANNING
POWER
POWER PLANTS
RESERVES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
URANIUM RESERVES
USA