Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and, in 1987, an amendment to the act identified Yucca Mountain, about 100
miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, as the one site that DOE should study
further. However, DOE has extended the repository's commissioning date from
the original 1998 target to 2017.[30] In addition, once the repository is completed,
decades may be needed to transport the spent fuel from various locations across
the country to Yucca Mountain. In the meantime, utilities continue interim storage
of spent nuclear fuel at operating reactor sites.[31]
Table 3. Comparison of Electricity Generating Costs
Assuming a Carbon Emissions Tax
Cents per kilowatt-hour
Energy source
25-year period
40-year period
Nuclear (base case)
7.0
6.7
Nuclear (best case)
4.7
4.4
Coal ($50/ton carbon tax)
5.6
5.4
Coal ($100/ton carbon tax)
6.8
6.6
Natural gas ($50/ton carbon tax)
5.3
5.6
Natural gas ($100/ton carbon tax)
5.8
6.0
Source: MIT.
Note: Costs were calculated using 2002 dollars and an 85 percent capacity factor using
merchant plant financing, reflecting a risk premium for nuclear energy. The best case
for nuclear energy assumes a 25-percent reduction in construction costs and a 12-
month reduction in construction time. The natural gas case assumes combined cycle
turbine technology and a price that starts at $4.50/million Btu and rises at a 2.5
percent rate over 40 years. Although natural gas prices were lower in 2002 than today,
construction and other costs have risen, resulting in a good measure of relative costs,
according to one of the MIT authors.
Many states have expressed alarm at the delays in opening Yucca Mountain,
fearing that the repository will suffer continual delays or might never open,
forcing the nuclear power plants to store the spent fuel indefinitely. While the
states are concerned about the public health and environmental risks, especially
with about 2,200 tons of spent nuclear fuel being added to the national inventory
annually, DOE and NRC cite a long list of studies that indicate that the risks of
radiation release from spent fuel in interim storage in pools or in dry storage casks
is low.[32] The states are also concerned that Yucca Mountain project delays are
resulting in ongoing costs for the consumer because, under the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act, users of nuclear power generated electricity pay $0.001 per kilowatt-
hour into a Nuclear Waste Fund, which is designed to pay for the permanent
disposal of all commercial spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste, including the
