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Economics Of Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear power construction costs have varied significantly across the world and over time. Large and rapid increases in costs occurred during the 1970s, especially in the United States. Recent cost trends in countries such as Japan and Korea have been very different, including periods of stability and decline in construction costs. New nuclear power plants typically have high capital expenditure for building plants. Fuel, operational, and maintenance costs are relatively small components of the total cost. The long service life and high capacity factor of nuclear power plants allow sufficient funds for ultimate plant decommissioning and waste storage and management to be accumulated, with little impact on the price per unit of electricity generated. Additionally, measures to mitigate climate change such as a carbon tax or carbon emissions trading, favor the economics of nuclear power over fossil fuel power. Nuclear power is cost competitive with the renewable generation when t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Power Debate
The nuclear power debate is a long-running controversy about the risks and benefits of using nuclear reactors to generate electricity for civilian purposes. The debate about nuclear power peaked during the 1970s and 1980s, as more and more reactors were built and came online, and "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies" in some countries. In the 2010s, with growing public awareness about climate change and the critical role that carbon dioxide and methane emissions plays in causing the heating of the Earth's atmosphere, there was a resurgence in the intensity of the nuclear power debate. Proponents of nuclear energy argue that nuclear power is the only consistently reliable clean and sustainable energy source which provides large amounts of uninterrupted energy without polluting the atmosphere or emitting the carbon emissions that cause global warming. They argue that use of nuclear power provides well-paying jobs, energy security, redu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Utility
An electric utility, or a power company, is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. Electric utilities are major providers of energy in most countries. Electric utilities include investor owned, publicly owned, cooperatives, and nationalized entities. They may be engaged in all or only some aspects of the industry. Electricity markets are also considered electric utilities—these entities buy and sell electricity, acting as brokers, but usually do not own or operate generation, transmission, or distribution facilities. Utilities are regulated by local and national authorities. Electric utilities are facing increasing demandsBy Candace Lombardi, CNET. �Utilities: Green tech good for planet, bad for business” February 23, 2010. including aging infrastructure, reliability, and regulation. In 2009, the French company EDF was the world's l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regulated Market
A regulated market (RM) or coordinated market is an idealized system where the government or other organizations oversee the market, control the forces of supply and demand, and to some extent regulate the market actions. This can include tasks such as determining who is allowed to enter the market and/or what prices may be charged.''Encyclopedia of Management'', Pennsylvania State University, Gale, 2009, p. 31. The majority of financial markets such as stock exchanges are regulated, whereas over-the-counter markets are usually not at all or only moderately regulated. One of the reasons for regulation can be the importance of the regulated activitymeaning the harm suffered should the industry fail would be so fatal that regulators (governments, legislators) cannot afford the risk. This includes fields like banking or financial services. Secondly, it is common for some markets to be regulated under the claim that they are natural monopolies, or that a monopoly would very likely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with privatization and with demutualization. When previously nationalized assets are privatized and subsequently returned to public ownership at a later stage, they are said to have undergone renationalization (or deprivatization). Industries often subject to nationalization include telecommunications, electric power, fossil fuels, railways, airlines, iron ore, media, postal services, banks, and water (sometimes called the commanding heights of the economy), and in many jurisdictions such entities have no history of private ownership. Nationalization may occur with or without financial compensation to the former owners. Nationalization is distinguished from property redistribution in that the government retains control of nationalized property. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in electrical grid failure and damaged nearly all of the power plant's Emergency power system, backup energy sources. The subsequent inability to sufficiently cool reactors after shutdown compromised Primary containment, containment and resulted in the release of radioactive contamination, radioactive contaminants into the surrounding environment. The accident was rated seven (the maximum severity) on the International Nuclear Event Scale by Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, following a report by the JNES (Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization). It is regarded as the worst nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, which was also rated a seven on the International Nuclear Event Scale. According to the United Nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belene Nuclear Power Plant
The Belene Nuclear Power Plant () is an abandoned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, on the right bank of the Danube River. It was intended to substitute four VVER-440 V230 reactors of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant that were decommissioned as a prerequisite for Bulgaria to join the European Union. On June 11, 2010, the Bulgarian government announced an indefinite freeze on the planned construction of the Belene nuclear power plant because it was uncertain on the duration of the return on investment. Five months later, on December 2, a non-binding memorandum of understanding was signed between NEK EAD, Rosatom, Altran and Fortum, setting up a 6.3 billion euro price on the power station, after months of unsuccessful talks on the cost and redeemability of the project itself. Further disagreement and the persistent demands of the Bulgarian government to lower the cost under 5 billion euro led to the termi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.“US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions” United States NBER, or National Bureau of Economic Research, updated March 14, 2023. This government agency dates the Great Recession as starting in December 2007 and bottoming-out in June 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At the time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that it was the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression. The causes of the Great Recession include a combination of vulnerabilities that developed in the financial system ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
