U.S. Developers Face Price Tag of $300 Billion for 50 New Nuclear Units by 2020

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--U.S. developers proposing to build 50 nuclear units by 2020 are expected to shell out about $300 billion for the projects. What used to cost $2 billion-$3 billion a few years ago for a 1,000-megawatt (MW) or larger unit is now estimated to cost $6 billion-$7 billion each. The U.S. currently has 104 operating units at 67 stations producing 100,609 MW, and the 50 new units would add about 64,500 MW.

Developers are proposing to build the units at 32 sites. Forty-nine of the nuclear reactors being proposed at 31 stations will vary in size from 1,000 MW to 1,700 MW. Texas has more units being studied than any other state with 12 units at four sites -- two grassroot and two existing nuclear stations -- for about 16,400 MW at a cost of between $72 billion and $84 billion.

A newer reactor technology, the 932F Toshiba 4S (Super-Safe, Small and Simple) sodium reactor, is also being developed by Toshiba Corporation (Tokyo, Japan). The grassroot pilot project will be installed in Galena, Alaska, and will show that communities may have reliable and safe, low-cost 10 MW nuclear package systems.

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