Publication Laka-library:
An assessment of the costs of the French nuclear PWR program 1970-2000 interim Report IR-09-036: 6 October (2009)
| Author | A.Grubler, IIASA |
 | - |
| Date | October 2009 |
| Classification | 2.02.0.00/69 (FRANCE - GENERAL) |
From the publication:
Abstract The paper reviews the history and the economics of the French PWR program, which is arguably the most successful nuclear-scale up experience in an industrialized country. Key to this success was a unique institutional framework that allowed for centralized decision making, a high degree of standardization, and regulatory stability, all epitomized by comparatively short reactor construction times. Drawing on largely unknown public records, the paper reveals for t first time both absolute as well as specific reactor costs and their evolution over time. Its most significant finding is that even this most successful nuclear scale-up was characterized by a substantial escalation of real-term reactor construction costs. Specific costs per kWinstalled capacity increased by more than a factor of three between the first and lastreactor generations built. Conversely, operating costs have remained remarkably flat,despite lowered load factors resulting from the need for load modulation in a system where base-load nuclear power plants supply three quarters of electricity.
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