Sowell's Law Blog: The Truth About Nuclear Power

Subtitle: Nuclear plants cannot provide cheap power on small islands

This article explores the idea of using nuclear power plants to reduce the power prices on

Island in the South Pacific

numerous islands. The evidence shows that nuclear power would increase the power prices, not decrease them.

Previously, the articles on The Truth About Nuclear Power showed that (one) modern nuclear power plants are uneconomic to operate compared to natural gas and wind energy, (two) they produce preposterous pricing if they are the sole power source for a grid, (three) they cost far too much to construct, (four) use far more water for cooling, 4 times as much, than better alternatives, (five) nuclear fuel makes them difficult to shut down and requires very costly safeguards, (six) they are built to huge scale of 1,000 to 1,600 MWe or greater to attempt to reduce costs via economy of scale, (seven) an all-nuclear grid will lose customers to self-generation, (eight) smaller and modular nuclear plants have no benefits, (nine) large-scale plants have very long construction schedules even without lawsuits that delay construction, (ten) nuclear plants do not reach 50 or 60 years life because they require costly upgrades after 20 to 30 years that do not always perform as designed, and (eleven) France has 85 percent of its electricity produced via nuclear power but it is subsidized, is still almost twice as expensive as prices in the US, and is only viable due to exporting power at night rather than throttling back the plants during low demand.

As written almost 5 years ago on SLB, Nuclear Plants on Islands – A Nutty Idea, see link, there are no nuclear power plants located on islands that have approximately 1 million population. Such islands could easily support power from a 1,000 MW reactor. The construction costs are far too high, one plant is far too inflexible in operations, and it is cheaper for islanders to import fuel oil or LNG and generate power that way. Using fossil fuel is far safer, too. So, how about smaller modular plants, perhaps 4 of them at 300 MW each, which allows for one to be down for maintenance. The reason this is not done is economy of scale pushes the power price far above 60 cents per kWh. It’s cheaper for the islands to burn fuel oil to generate power and pay 25 cents per kWh.

Here are the 15 islands with populations from 0.8 million to 1.25 million people, and no nuclear power plants.

Island ……………….population, millions

Okinawa………………...1.25

Mauritius………………...1.245

Bohol…………………….1.23

Hong Kong……………….1.18

Mindoro…………………..1.16

Xiamen Island…………...1.08

Sao Luis Island……….…1.08

Trinidad…………………...1.03 (this island has abundant natural gas, so of course is not a candidate)

South Island (NZ)……..…1.008

Oahu……………………...0.876

Tenerife………………..…0.865

Cyprus………………..…..0.855

Grand Canary………..…..0.815

Majorca………………..…0.814

Reunion (France)…….….0.793

The same is true for the five islands with 4 to 5 million population: Singapore, Sicily, Bali, and two in the Philippines. There, the grid could use one 1,000 MWe nuclear plant and provide roughly one-fourth or one-fifth of the total power. Or, the utility could build multiple smaller reactors to provide 5 GW of power, 5 at 1GW, 10 at 500 MW, 15 at 333 MW, 20 at 250 MW, etc. But, they have not. Power prices would still be far too expensive due to economy of scale. Larger plants provide lower-cost power, while smaller plants produce more expensive power.

For the smaller islands listed above, multiple small reactors could also be installed but would increase prices far too much due to economy of scale.

It is notable that two contenders in the small, modular reactor market recently failed to attract any customers or any investors. See link. Modular reactors and their various problems were discussed at some length in part 8 of the series. See link.

Conclusion

Despite having to burn imported oil or LNG, the many small islands in the world have not adopted nuclear power as a means of reducing their power prices. The island of Oahu, for example, charges approximately 25 cents per kWh for power based on oil and a small amount of imported natural gas. Even if small modular reactors were built to provide operating flexibility, nuclear plants cannot provide cheap power on small islands. The claim by nuclear advocates that nuclear power is cheap is simply not supported by the evidence of all the islands in the world that presently provide expensive power. If nuclear were indeed cheaper, the islanders would likely adopt that.

Previous articles in the Truth About Nuclear Power series are found at the following links. Additional articles will be linked as they are published.

Part One – Nuclear Power Plants Cannot Compete

Part Two – Preposterous Power Pricing if Nuclear Power Proponents Prevail

Part Three – Nuclear Power Plants Cost Far Too Much to Construct

Part Four – Nuclear Power Plants Use Far More Fresh Water

Part Five – Cannot Simply Turn Off a Nuclear Power Plant

Part Six – Nuclear Plants are Huge to Reduce Costs

Part Seven -- All Nuclear Grid Will Sell Less Power

Part Eight – No Benefits from Smaller Modular Nuclear Plants

Part Nine -- Nuclear Plants Require Long Construction Schedules

Part Ten -- Nuclear Plants Require Costly Upgrades After 20 to 30 Years

Part Eleven - Following France in Nuclear Is Not The Way To Go