The operating costs and longevity of nuclear power plants: Evidence from the USA

Abstract This paper examines the consequences of the rapid escalation in non-fuel operating costs on the operating life of US nuclear power plants. US policy makers consider the 114 nuclear units currently in operation to be a national asset, and, therefore, desire that they operate well beyond the end of their current 40-year licensed life, once that constraint is removed. This, however, may only occur for the 10% of the plants with the lowest costs (about 10 GW of capacity). Additionally, at current (1989) cost levels, about 10% of the plants in operation before 1981, with a total capacity of about 5 GW, could be retired well before the end of their 40 year licensed lives. Thus, the desire of policy makers that existing nuclear plants operate well into the next century may only be achieved with some type of federal intervention.