Nuclear reactors can cost twice as much in the United States and Europe than in Asian countries where the industry is flourishing, according to a new analysis from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Meticulous regulation often takes the blame, but higher costs here have much more to do with project design and construction management, MIT researchers find in a report released in September.
"In the East—in Korea, in China and the UAE, which is being built by the Koreans—the cost is $3,000-$4,000 per kilowatt, whereas in the West the cost is north of $8,000 per kilowatt. The question is why," said David Petti, a fellow with the Idaho National Laboratory and a senior contributor to MIT's study.
"We spent a lot of time digging into that. We interviewed both the failed projects and the successful projects, and our recommendation was that we need an increased focus on using proven construction-management practices to increase the probability of success in the execution and delivery of new nuclear plants."
Among the failed projects is the V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina, which was scrapped last year because of cost overruns. The Vogtle plant under construction in Georgia has also seen dramatic cost overruns, but it continues to survive on financial life support.
In a briefing on the MIT study's findings, Petti said he was surprised to find the cost of nuclear plants is not as dependent on the reactor as he previously thought.
"As a nuclear engineer, this is interesting because what do we teach people in school? it’s all about the reactor. Well, in fact, the cost is not driven by either the NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) nor the turbine buildings. It's everything else."
MIT found more costs bundled up in the site preparation, the building construction, the civil works—"all the things outside of the reactor that house the reactor."
Petti cited three areas where costs tend to escalate:
1 Design
Nuclear contractors in the United States and Europe have tended to begin construction before they have completed the design phase. It's important that the design be complete when construction begins, Petti said, and it matters who's on the design team:
"Making sure that the design is complete, making sure that you have fabricators and constructors on your design team early so that you know that what you design can be built. This was not done for certain projects."
2 Construction Management
Nuclear contractors can better manage projects by "making sure everyone has skin in the game, making sure the process can deal with and adapt quickly to change, because change is inevitable in something as complex as this."
If the construction system doesn't adapt to change it gets delayed, Petti said, "and as construction schedules drag out you’re paying interest and you’ve got a lot of people on the site that are not being productive."
3 Supply Chain and Workforce
Because reactor construction has stalled in Europe and the U.S., the West no longer has a reliable supply of spare parts and trained workers, Petti said.
"There have been problems, there’s been an atrophy in the West because we haven’t built a plant, whether it be in Europe or the United States, in 30 years. The successful vendors have really strong supply chains, like South Korea."