The vast majority of nuclear power plants in the U.S. have the initial capital costs already paid for. Therefore, the only costs are the ongoing maintenance, operating, fuel, and upkeep/improvements. For most power plants, the maintenance, operating, and upkeep/improvements are relatively close.
Well, no that's not really true. Nuclear power plants are held to a much higher standard across the board for quality, conduct of operations, and conduct of maintenance, so they are burdened by much more paperwork for the same jobs as compared to a coal or natural gas plant. At a coal plant if a feedwater pump needs to be changed, the pump is ordered and a crew of 10 guys (for sake of conversation) puts it in. At a nuclear plant, the same pump costs more because the vendors are required to perform more quality checks on it. Instead of a crew of 10 guys, it's now a group of 20 guys because there is a maintenance planner, a pre-job brief, a safety observer, and a pile of paperwork to complete that would make you cry.
So, as a guess, operating costs are about 2 times a coal plant. However, as the other poster mentioned, the fuel costs are about 1/100 compared to a coal plant. Rather than bring in a train load of coal everyday, a nuke plant needs a truckload of fuel every 18 months. I think that is totally cool.
Well, no that's not really true. Nuclear power plants are held to a much higher standard across the board for quality, conduct of operations, and conduct of maintenance, so they are burdened by much more paperwork for the same jobs as compared to a coal or natural gas plant. At a coal plant if a feedwater pump needs to be changed, the pump is ordered and a crew of 10 guys (for sake of conversation) puts it in. At a nuclear plant, the same pump costs more because the vendors are required to perform more quality checks on it. Instead of a crew of 10 guys, it's now a group of 20 guys because there is a maintenance planner, a pre-job brief, a safety observer, and a pile of paperwork to complete that would make you cry.
So, as a guess, operating costs are about 2 times a coal plant. However, as the other poster mentioned, the fuel costs are about 1/100 compared to a coal plant. Rather than bring in a train load of coal everyday, a nuke plant needs a truckload of fuel every 18 months. I think that is totally cool.
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The biggest factor is the low fuel cost. The $/KW is far lower for nuclear fuel than it is for anything but hydro and wind.