Key Issues
Safety Is the Nuclear Energy Industry’s Highest Priority
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Safety Is Highest Priority
The electric power industry uses nuclear energy as part of a balanced portfolio of electricity generating sources that enhances our lives in a variety of ways and helps power the U.S. economy. The nuclear power industry is committed to operating its facilities in a way that protects the health and safety of its employees and the public, in addition to protecting and improving the environment.
The nuclear energy industry has a demonstrated commitment to operating its facilities safely. The industry’s safety performance at 104 commercial reactors around the country has been sustained at record levels, as indicated by numerous government and industry safety measures. This performance is the result of several factors, including high standards of operations, robust plant designs built and operated with a conservative “defense-in-depth” safety philosophy, government and industry oversight of plant operations, and the dedication of a well-trained and experienced work force that recognizes that safety is the key to successful plant operations.
Safety and Operating Performance
Dramatic gains in safety, reliability and productivity have been realized at U.S. nuclear power plants over the past two decades. All of the safety-related metrics tracked by the NRC and the industry demonstrate high levels of excellence.
For example, in 2007, record lows were achieved in unplanned automatic plant shutdowns—0.42 per plant—and in lost-time accident rates—0.12 accidents per 200,000 worker-hours. Statistics from other industries through 2005, as compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, show that it is safer to work at a nuclear power plant than in the manufacturing sector. Other metrics, such as forced plant outage rates, unplanned safety system actuations and plant events with safety implications, were all down.
Nuclear power plant reliability is unmatched by any other electricity generation capability. For the past seven years, the industry has achieved a nearly 90 percent average capacity factor, a measure of the amount of electricity actually produced compared to the plant’s maximum output level. The highest quartile of nuclear plants operated at 95 percent over the latest three-year period.
From a productivity standpoint, the industry maintains the lowest production costs (operation, maintenance and fuel) of all electricity generation sources except hydroelectric plants. In 2007, the industry average production cost was 1.76 cents per kilowatt-hour, lower than coal and about one-quarter of the cost of natural gas-powered electricity. These numbers demonstrate that safety, reliability and productivity are related. Safe, reliable nuclear plants also are one of the most cost-effective means of generating electricity.
Safety Is Highest Priority
The electric power industry uses nuclear energy as part of a balanced portfolio of electricity generating sources that enhances our lives in a variety of ways and helps power the U.S. economy. The nuclear power industry is committed to operating its facilities in a way that protects the health and safety of its employees and the public, in addition to protecting and improving the environment.
The nuclear energy industry has a demonstrated commitment to operating its facilities safely. The industry’s safety performance at 104 commercial reactors around the country has been sustained at record levels, as indicated by numerous government and industry safety measures. This performance is the result of several factors, including high standards of operations, robust plant designs built and operated with a conservative “defense-in-depth” safety philosophy, government and industry oversight of plant operations, and the dedication of a well-trained and experienced work force that recognizes that safety is the key to successful plant operations.
Safety and Operating Performance
Dramatic gains in safety, reliability and productivity have been realized at U.S. nuclear power plants over the past two decades. All of the safety-related metrics tracked by the NRC and the industry demonstrate high levels of excellence.
For example, in 2007, record lows were achieved in unplanned automatic plant shutdowns—0.42 per plant—and in lost-time accident rates—0.12 accidents per 200,000 worker-hours. Statistics from other industries through 2005, as compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, show that it is safer to work at a nuclear power plant than in the manufacturing sector. Other metrics, such as forced plant outage rates, unplanned safety system actuations and plant events with safety implications, were all down.
Nuclear power plant reliability is unmatched by any other electricity generation capability. For the past seven years, the industry has achieved a nearly 90 percent average capacity factor, a measure of the amount of electricity actually produced compared to the plant’s maximum output level. The highest quartile of nuclear plants operated at 95 percent over the latest three-year period.
From a productivity standpoint, the industry maintains the lowest production costs (operation, maintenance and fuel) of all electricity generation sources except hydroelectric plants. In 2007, the industry average production cost was 1.76 cents per kilowatt-hour, lower than coal and about one-quarter of the cost of natural gas-powered electricity. These numbers demonstrate that safety, reliability and productivity are related. Safe, reliable nuclear plants also are one of the most cost-effective means of generating electricity.
