CHAPTER 12 PLANT ECONOMICS AND PROJ ECT SCHEDULE12-112ChapterPlant Economics and Project ScheduleIntroductionAnuclearpowerplantmakesanidealbaseloadgeneratorbecauseitscostofelectricity(COE)ismostly fixed. Of the total cost of electricity producedbyanadvancednuclearplant,thecapitalcostsareabout70%,O&Mcostsare15%andfuelcostsarealso about 15%. The experience of recent years is thatO&M costs are essentially fixed. Moreover, nuclearfuel costs have been remarkably stable over time and, infact,havedeclinedinrealterms(afterinflationissubtracted.) Thus, approximately 85% of the COE of anuclear plant is fixed for the lifetime of the plant. ContrastthiswithacombinedcycleplantforwhichtheCOEdepends heavily on prices of natural gas (Table 12-1).A stable, low cost source of electricityis important to countries with growingeconomies.Itsupportseconomicgrowthanditmakesthecostofproductsproducedforexportmorecompetitiveinworldmarkets.Moreover, for countries which importlarge amounts of fossil fuels, the useofnuclearenergydecreasesvulnerability to changes in the supplyand price of oil and gas.During the development of the ABWR,agooddealofemphasiswasplacedonensuringthatitwouldbeeconomically competitive. Table 12-2providesacomparisonbetweenkeyeconomicparametersoftheABWRand those of existing U.S. BWRs.Capital CostsThecapitalcostofanynuclearplantdependsuponanumberofkeyvariables.Forexample,thecostofTable 12-2.Economic ComparisonTable 12-1.Fixed and Variable CostsABWR U.S. BWRsAverage Best of ClassCapital Costs, $/kW 1600 3000 to 5000 2000Construction schedule, years 4 10-15 5Capacity Factor, % 90 80 90Production costs*, c/kWhr 1.10 2.0 1.5Outage length, days 25 50