Dominion admits cost of North Anna 3 (nuclear reactor) will top $19 billion

[kristopher]

Dominion admits cost of North Anna 3 will top $19 billion
August 10, 2015 by Ivy Main

Dominion Virginia Power is projecting that the capital cost of a third nuclear reactor at its North Anna facility will total over $19 billion, according to filings in its 2015 biennial review before the State Corporation Commission (PUE-2015-00027).

This works out to over $13,000 per installed kilowatt, according to the testimony of Scott Norwood, an energy consultant hired by the Attorney General’s Department of Consumer Counsel to analyze Dominion’s earnings evaluations. He notes that this capital cost is “approximately ten times the capital cost of the Company’s new Brunswick combined cycle unit,” which will burn natural gas.

As a result of this high capital cost, the “total delivered cost of power from NA3 is more than $190 per MWh in 2028.” That translates into 19 cents per kilowatt-hour.

By comparison, in 2014 the average wholesale price of electricity in the PJM region (which includes Virginia) was 5.3 cents per kWh. Dominion currently sells electricity to its customers at retail for between 5.5 and 11 cents/kWh.

In other words, NA3 is ridiculously expensive...

http://powerforthepeopleva.com/2015/08/10/dominion-admits-cost-of-north-anna-3-will-top-19-billion/


See also: Study Finds … Price of Wind Energy in the United States is at an All-time Low (avg. < 2.5 ¢/kWh)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112789580

[dougolat]

1. Good gawd! The earthen dam that forms Lake Anna....

...could fail in freak storms, an earthquake, or sabotage, and the flow in the river is at times too low to cool what's already there.

[dgibby]

2. The damn thing sits on a fault line.

They've already had damaged reactors. Between North Anna and the proposed pipelines through the George Washington National Forest, Dominion won't be happy until Virginia glows in the dark. They are also fighting clean energy tooth and nail. Their service is good, but I despise them as a Corp.

[FBaggins]

4. The current plan is for a Gen III ESBWR

They don't require outside water supply (or even human intervention) in order to shut down.

[FBaggins]

3. As usual... when an anti-nuke claims that there was an "admission"... it's worth questioning.

Here's the filing that Ivy Main is referencing (http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case/e-notice/ne150027.pdf). Please point to the 19+Billion dollar "admission".

What I did find in Dominion's other releases was a plan for total capital expenditures of $19.2 Billion over the next several years, but that's total capex for the entire company. Not for a single nuclear unit (or even generation in general).

[kristopher]

5. Find the testimony of Scott Norwood on that case.

As you well know that is the reference provided in the article. Apparently Norwood has sourced the information from related filings by Dominion in support of their claim.

Given your history you are the last person to accuse others of questionable claims.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112789018

[GliderGuider]

6. Shut them all down. Between the cost and the risk...