Nuclear industry success story

[kristopher]

The emphasis is on "industry" in "nuclear industry success story".
For those paying the tab? Not so much.

At $24B this 2.2gigawatt facility is a complete economic clusterf&*k for the consumer (original price was $14B), but an incredible success for the industry that has taken the consumer hostage with "advanced cost recovery". I mean seriously, slipping the date from 2016 to 2024 isn't a clue to someone that there is a problem here? There is an awful lot of carbon reduction the money spent on this plant could have produced by the time the plant comes online.

Progress Energy raises price tag, delays start date of Levy nuclear plant
By Ivan Penn, Times Staff Writer
Posted: May 01, 2012 09:53 AM


Progress Energy announced Tuesday that the cost for its proposed Levy County nuclear plant could reach a new high of $24 billion with a new start date of 2024.

The new estimate, included among documents filed with the state Public Service Commission for its annual nuclear cost recovery, would raise the cost of the project almost $2 billion and delay when it comes online from 2021 to 2024 — almost a decade after its original projected date of 2016.

...

Progress' proposal would increase the amount customers pay from the current $3.05 per 1,000 kilowatt hours of usage for advances fees for Levy and its existing Crystal River nuclear plant to $5.09 beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

....

"Nuclear power," Dolan said, "remains a key component of Progress Energy's balanced solution strategy to meet our customers' future energy needs with efficient, carbon-free electricity."***

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/progress-energy-raises-price-tag-delays-start-date-of-levy-nuclear-plant/1227830





** See: 1000 gigawatts of new solar every year by 2020?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112713577

*** See: Nuclear Revival is Ruining Climate Protection Efforts and Harming Customers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112711888

[kristopher]

1. Progress Energy board of directors declares dividend

Progress Energy board of directors declares dividend

RALEIGH, N.C., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Progress Energy's board of directors today declared a dividend of 62 cents per share on outstanding shares of Progress Energy's common stock. The quarterly dividend is payable June 18, 2012, to Progress Energy shareholders of record at the close of business on May 18, 2012.

[kristopher]

2. Initial quote $14 billion, now $24 billion; original inservice date: 2016, now 2024.

Lest we forget, what as the cost basis used to drum up all the enthusiasm for the "nuclear renaissance"?

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

Based on information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), DOE, and industry sources, CBO expects that construction of the first new nuclear power plant would begin after 2010. Estimates of the cost for such a plant range from $2.1 billion to almost $3 billion, including engineering, procurement, and construction, as well as costs associated with construction delays, and first-of-a-kind engineering costs.

...For this estimate, CBO assumes that the first nuclear plant built using a federal loan guarantee would have a capacity of 1,100 megawatts and have associated project costs of $2.5 billion. We expect that such a plant would be located at the site of an existing nuclear plant and would employ a reactor design certified by the NRC prior to construction. This plant would be the first to be licensed under the NRC’s new licensing procedures, which have been extensively revised over the past decade.

Based on current industry practices, CBO expects that any new nuclear construction project would be financed with 50 percent equity and 50 percent debt. The high equity participation reflects the current practice of purchasing energy assets using high equity stakes, 100 percent in some cases, used by companies likely to undertake a new nuclear construction project. Thus, we assume that the government loan guarantee would cover half the construction cost of a new plant, or $1.25 billion in 2011.

With that cost estimate, this is the market position that CBO saw.

CBO considers the risk of default on such a loan guarantee to be very high—well above 50 percent. The key factor accounting for this risk is that we expect that the plant would be uneconomic to operate because of its high construction costs, relative to other electricity generation sources. In addition, this project would have significant technical risk because it would be the first of a new generation of nuclear plants, as well as project delay and interruption risk due to licensing and regulatory proceedings.

But let's be very clear here - Progress Energy's Levy project, the one they want the Florida ratepayers to start paying for now (in spite of its history) does NOT have a license issued, neither does it have a loan guarantee from the taxpayers nor any other financing mechanism in place.