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The USA, the world’s largest nuclear power generator, has 99 nuclear power reactors in 30 states, operated by 30 different power companies, and in 2016 they produced 805 TWh. Since 2001 these plants have achieved an average capacity factor of over 90%, generating up to 807 TWh per year and accounting for about 20% of total electricity generated.

Is it any surprise then, that average retail prices across the US are 1/3 of those in wind and sun powered SA?

In early 2018, the State of Pennsylvania sent a delegation to Australia to lure energy hungry businesses, with a promise of power prices, a mere fraction of those paid here.

Commercial users in Pennsylvania are paying 8.85 cents per KWh, equating to US$88.50 per MWh. Industrial users are paying 6.67 cents per KWh, equating to US$66.70. Depending on the State they’re in, Australian commercial users are paying upwards of A$0.35 per KWh, or A$350 per MWh hour, in SA it’s A$0.47 per KWh, or A$470 per MWh.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, in 2016, Pennsylvania ranked second in the nation in electricity generation from nuclear power, which supplied 39% of the state’s net electricity generation, more than from any other source.

In France the average retail power price is $246.30 per MWh (24.63 cents per KWh) which compares rather favourably with the average retail power price in South Australia $471.30 per MWh (47.13 cents per KWh) – a snicker under double the price paid by French power consumers. The French have 58 nuclear reactors, which provide them with roughly 75% of their power.

Not only does Australia fail to profit and benefit from nuclear power generation, its bed-wetting political class banned nuclear power generation 20 years ago.

Faced with that incomprehensible legislative position, the chief of staff and senior adviser at the US Department of Energy, Suzanne Jaworowski made a pitch to common sense on behalf of Australia’s embattled power consumers.

US urges Australia to consider nuclear

The Australian

Adam Creighton

27 March 2020

A top Trump administration ­official has urged Australia to join the US in researching and building small “modular” nuclear reactors to slash carbon dioxide emissions, arguing solar and wind can’t provide enough reliable power.

Suzanne Jaworowski, chief of staff and senior adviser at the US Department of Energy, said about 45 companies in the US were working on small modular reactors and one could be built in Australia by the mid-2020s

“You could have up to 12 reactor modules each producing 60MW, even more reliably than coal and gas,” she told The Weekend Australian, recommending business and government work with NuScale Power, which is building an SMR in Idaho.

“They are at a point where they could work with a country like Australia,” she said.

Australia’s prohibition on ­nuclear energy, in force since the late 1990s, was “unfortunate”, she said. The growing push for zero emissions by mid-century could only be achieved with nuclear power, on current technology.

“We just don’t have the storage capability to make wind and solar a reliable resource; there’s nothing wrong with using them but we have to be realistic,” Ms ­Jaworowski added.

Rising power prices and doubts solar and wind power alone can support the entire energy grid have increased support for ­nuclear power, including from industry super funds and politicians.

A federal inquiry into nuclear power suggested a partial reversal of the 1998 legislative ban on ­nuclear energy late last year. In NSW, state One Nation leader Mark Latham and state Nationals leader John Barilaro are pushing to dump a similar state ban.

Ms Jaworowski, who had to cancel a planned trip to Australia this year because of the corona­virus, said nuclear energy faced a “perception problem”. “There’s not a technology or safety problem,” she said. “But we’re seeing a real groundswell especially from younger people who care about the ­environment and economy and who have thought about the issue.”

Liddell coal power station in NSW, with 2000MW capacity, is scheduled to close in 2023. The federal government, which has said lifting the nuclear ban would require bipartisan support, is putting together a “technology road map” to ensure large cuts in carbon emissions by 2050.

Ms Jaworowski said nuclear energy in the US could be supplied from small modular reactors at about $55 a MwH, “which is very competitive with other forms of energy”.

The Energy Policy Institute said the US, Russia and China were in a three-way contest to dominate the global nuclear generation market with SMRs. “The nuclear competition will be good for Australia because we need greater energy security than we’ve got at present,” institute executive director Robert Pritchard said.

The Australian