Resources Archive

This paper describes the cost trends and drivers for generating electricity using nuclear energy—capital, operations and fuel costs—and the value of the industry's carbon-free electricity in context.

Canada and the U.S. are already embarking on strategic regulatory cooperation. This paper articulates how this cooperation will help enable both nations to achieve large-scale deployment of new nuclear power plants and enable both countries to achieve their national energy, climate, environmental, economic and national security goals.

Because of the overarching importance of “Extreme Ownership and Leadership from the Top,” it will receive significant attention in this implementation guide. This IG #3 focuses on the people who will be needed to manage an NNP project and how to establish a durable accountability structure for planning and executing these projects. IG #3 focuses on the owner’s role as acceptance and implementation of all lessons learned flow from Extreme Ownership and top-level Leadership.

Too often, the NRC diverts its time and attention into activities that have a negligible effect on safety. As a result, NRC’s review processes are ponderous, prolonged and unnecessarily resource intensive. To show this tendency, NEI examined public records covering NRC review duration and cost for power uprates, license renewals, design certifications and early site permits. 

Governors, legislators, and regulators will play a critical role in shaping policies that enhance the development and commercial deployment of new, carbon-free nuclear technologies.

Frequently asked questions about advanced nuclear energy for interested communities.

New Nuclear Power (NNP) projects, including small modular reactor (SMR)/Advanced Reactor (AR) projects will have a long lifecycle with multiple steps prior to authorization and construction. The construction of a nuclear power plant, whether First of a Kind (FOAK) or Nth of a Kind (NOAK) is subject to relatively long project schedules and uncertainty, and FOAK construction has additional elements that add to the overall risk. The key to long term economic competitiveness with respect to the deployment of nuclear power plants is making both the design and project execution highly standardized reducing both the project schedule and risk. NEI 20-08, “Strategic Project Management Lessons Learned & Best Practices for New Nuclear Power Construction,” identifies 14 areas of construction best practices, with a total of 59 key construction best practices, that have been critical in the successful execution of large complex projects. Implementation guides (IG) are developed to explain how these best practices can be incorporated into actual new nuclear projects. This IG-02 discusses how to develop contract strategy and collaborative approaches to project delivery and execution together with an aggressive risk management plan to support project success. This approach aligns the objectives of project stakeholders while actively managing risk thereby increasing confidence in the ability to deliver the project to cost and schedule.

As the energy transition accelerates across all 50 states, policymakers are recognizing the inherent value of carbon-free, reliable nuclear energy. Governors, legislators and regulators play a critical role in shaping policies that can enhance the development, demonstration and commercial deployment of a wide array of nuclear technologies.

Establishing a High Assay Low Enriched Uranium Infrastructure for Advanced Reactors

Design Completion and Reliability of Schedule and Cost Estimations to Support Construction Decisions Implementation Guidance 01 for NEI 20-08, “Strategic Project Management Lessons Learned & Best Practices for New Nuclear Power Construction”

Guidance that may be used by a licensee to conduct periodic emergency preparedness program reviews at a 24-month frequency, as allowed by 10 CFR 50.54(t)(1)(ii).

A summary of the findings of the Potomac Economics study, "A Review of Nuclear Costs and Revenues in PJM."

A new study from Potomac Economics concludes that most of the nuclear plants in PJM will not produce enough revenue to remain economically viable in the coming years .

The nuclear energy sector is responsible for approximately 100,000 well-paying jobs, and the nuclear sector is the highest paying industry in the electric power generation sector.

A new report from the consulting firm UxC projects that if the United States supplies nuclear energy equipment and technology to support a share of the IPCC’s projected requirement for new nuclear power, U.S. export revenues could range between $1.3 trillion and $1.9 trillion.

Interest in deploying new nuclear reactors in the U.S. is increasing as more stakeholders recognize the critical role that nuclear energy must play in order to reduce carbon emissions. Today, nuclear energy accounts for almost 20% of the U.S. electricity generation, and, when viewed as part of a clean energy portfolio, nuclear energy produces over 50% of the zero-carbon emissions electricity. Nuclear energy is firm dispatchable energy that can operate 24/7, making nuclear, renewables and storage resources the perfect partners to achieve zero to very low carbon emissions. The purpose of this report is to compile and describe the construction best practices that will reduce construction risk and better enable projects to be built on-time and on-budget. There have been over 100 documents over the past several decades that have identified the lessons learned from past nuclear reactor construction projects. While many of these reports identify similar lessons learned, they also contain lessons that are not identified in other reports. Therefore, we used industry expertise to synthesizes the 32 most relevant documents and establish the top strategic project management lessons learned and best practices that experience shows have been key in the successful execution of large complex projects. Documented in this report are the following fourteen (14) areas of construction best practices required for the successful completion of a new nuclear reactor project. Within these 14 areas, a total of 59 key construction best practices are identified and described.

Recommendations for Streamlining Environmental Reviews for Advanced Reactors

The U.S. nuclear power industry has consistently improved performance over the past 20 years. This performance manifests itself in many dimensions, including worker safety, public safety and plant reliability. There are many factors influencing this improvement including the cultivation of a strong safety and reliability culture by utilities, a strong independent nuclear regulator in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an independent industry excellence organization in the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators (INPO), and the NRC’s adoption of a risk-informed safety focus. Over the past 20 years, improving plant performance has been coupled with the enhanced safety focus provided by a risk-informed approach that focuses resources on the most safety significant issues. Today, the U.S. nuclear industry is performing at the highest levels of safety and reliability in the world. NEI has collected all the relevant individual and aggregate performance indicators available from public sources, including NRC and INPO, spanning the past several decades. The purpose of this report is to illuminate the performance improvements achieved and demonstrate the connection between this improved performance and safety.

Micro-reactors are very small nuclear reactors that are well suited to serve the power needs for markets that currently do not have access to clean, reliable, resilient and affordable energy, including remote areas and micro-grids. Micro-reactor technology and designs are rapidly maturing and the first micro-reactor applications are expected to be submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2020. The purpose of this report is to discuss changes in the way micro-reactors are licensed and regulated. This also identifies the need to address several policy and technical issues. Timely NRC consideration and feedback on the policy and technical issues associated with a performance-based, consequence-oriented regulatory framework is needed to inform design of micro reactors as well as business decisions affecting licensing and certification of micro-reactors over the next few years.

NEI’s Principles for Clean Energy Policies demonstrate the measures necessary to provide a technology-neutral solution to climate change.

In a recent report, the Global Nexus Initiative concluded that the three main advanced reactor technology types can be safeguarded by the International Atomic Energy Agency to prevent proliferation.

Roadmap for Regulatory Acceptance of Advanced Manufacturing Methods in the Nuclear Energy Industry

Micro-reactors can be cost competitive for remote applications such as arctic communities, islands, mines, and defense installations.

This report identifies the timeline, major challenges and recommended actions to ensure successful deployment of the first micro-reactor at a U.S. Department of Defense domestic installation.

This white paper provides an assessment of Part 52 construction experience to date. It concludes that adjustments can and should be made to optimize the change process and provide the flexibility licensees need to construct new nuclear plants. This would allow for changes that are expected and inevitable in such large and complex projects.

The study, ‘The Market Impact of Proposed U.S. Uranium Import Quotas on the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry,’ produced by the NorthBridge Group, suggests that a proposed quota would impose an additional $500 to $800 million per year costs on U.S. nuclear power generators.

NEI commissioned ICF to perform an analysis of how energy infrastructure disruptions in PJM, combined with continued nuclear power plant retirements, would impact system resiliency. NEI specified the scenarios for the analysis and the key assumptions for those scenarios. The results of this analysis show nuclear power’s critical role in providing a reliable and resilient supply of electricity.

This paper assesses new reactor licensing reviews and recommends how the NRC can be more efficient in adapting reviews to account for safer designs.

Zero-emission credits are payments that electricity generators receive to compensate them for not emitting greenhouse gases in the production of electricity.

The Brattle Group conducted an analysis of expected environmental and economic impacts of announced nuclear plant closures in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Cooper Nuclear Station has long been a vital part of Southeast Nebraska's energy portfolio, providing reliable electricity and supporting hundreds of direct jobs.

This white paper outlines the near-term regulatory reforms that are necessary to ensure that advanced reactors are licensed and built in the United States.

The vast majority of new reactor designs require a new fuel production chain that doesn’t exist today.

Columbia Station in Washington supports thousands of jobs and generates $690 million per year, all while providing 100 percent carbon-free electricity.

This 2017 study revealed that though billions of dollars in energy incentives came in various forms, only 8 percent was spent on nuclear energy. The study covers all incentives, including tax breaks, regulation exemptions and technology transfer from government to industry.

The second license renewal road map documents the industry’s assessment of the milestones that must be reached so that the NRC can review second license renewal applications for the first companies seeking them.

Xcel Energy’s nuclear operations are estimated to generate $1 billion of total economic output annually in Minnesota.

Across New England, Millstone provides $2.6 billion economic benefits. Approximately $1.3 billion of these benefits occur in Connecticut.

This report summarizes state legislation and regulations that support nuclear energy in 31 states.

NEI's memo for the Trump transition team outlines several key policies needed in the immediate future and in the longer term to ensure the benefits of nuclear power.

Americans express strong support for nuclear energy, with 65% of the U.S. public expressing favorability for nuclear.

Nuclear plants are protected from digital threats by layer upon layer of safety measures.

Read about the U.S. nuclear energy industry’s Strategic Plan for Advanced Non-Light Water Reactor Development and Commercialization.

Operating the four Texas nuclear plants generates $4.4 billion of annual economic output in their local communities and statewide.

The industry supports an integrated used nuclear fuel management strategy, consisting of 10 basic elements.

Ginna employs about 700 people directly and adds another 800 to 1,000 jobs during reactor refueling outages.

Davis-Besse’s operation generates $805 million of annual economic output in Ottawa County and $1.1 billion statewide.

Exelon’s 11 nuclear reactors in Illinois provide reliable, emission-free electricity and act as economic engines for their local communities and the state.

The report focuses on key aspects of nuclear export control, such as the structure and organization of regulatory systems, the scope of controls over nuclear and nuclear-related commodities and technology, types of licenses issued, license issuance requirements, processing times, and other distinguishing characteristics of each regime.

In the United States, commercial light water reactors generate electricity using low‐enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. On average, fuel costs comprise approximately 20% of nuclear power plants’ total generating costs. Few other individual cost components have such a large impact on the economics of the nuclear fleet. A site’s fuel costs depend on two factors, the price of the fuel components (uranium feed, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication) and the efficiency of the core design. Fuel component costs are driven by supply and demand and are largely outside the control of a utility. The efficiency of a core design determines the quantity of nuclear material needed to meet a plant’s energy objectives. While a utility can improve the efficiency of the core design, this efficiency is ultimately limited by the specific design constraints of the core design. Two of several constraints that have been shown to directly impact the core design efficiency are the uranium enrichment level and discharge burnup achieved by the core and/or fuel design. A review of the current fuel management practices, based on equilibrium cycle designs, has shown that 99% of the variation in fuel cycle efficiency is attributable to variations in enrichment and burnup. Many sites are currently constrained by the existing regulatory limits on one or both of these parameters. With the increased interest in higher burnup cores, it is likely that within the next decade, both operating and advanced reactors will see a demand for fuel enriched greater than 5 weight percent (wt%) U‐235. This white paper provides a study—including assumptions, economic projections, inflation and financial methodologies—that evaluates the technical, financial and regulatory issues associated with increasing the limits on uranium enrichment and on fuel burnup for current uranium dioxide (UO2) fuel types. Revising these limits impacts a large portion of the nuclear fuel cycle as well as the licensing bases for both plant operators and fuel suppliers. While there are economic advantages to making these changes, they also require long‐term capital investment and regulatory changes. Revising these limits will provide savings through additional cycle length flexibility, reduced high level waste storage and disposal requirements, and a positive benefit on the environmental impact of the fuel cycle. The final decision to pursue new limits must consider not only the expected benefits but the business risks associated with such an undertaking.

FAQ on Part 810 Authorizations

Procedures and processes for implementing identification and reporting requirements of 10 CFR 54.37(b) may vary among utilities. This document is intended to provide best practices to ensure potential sources of newly identified systems, structures, and components (SSCs) in scope of license renewal aging management are considered during the 10 CFR 54.37(b) review process. The details of how information is obtained during this review will generally be different from site to site.

The purpose of this document is to identify codes and standards that could provide the greatest benefit for the advanced reactor design types being developed today, and to prioritize them so that the most beneficial codes and standards are developed first. Prioritization is based on the benefit to potential NRC applicants in terms of facilitating the licensing process and reducing design, component fabrication, facility construction and plant operating costs. Prior activities by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), American Nuclear Society (ANS) and NRC identified technical areas that warrant additional research and development to support standards development activities and a lengthy list of standards that need levels of revision to support the deployment of advanced reactors. Building on those activities, the tables contained herein list prioritized codes and standards and include descriptions of their content to explain the rationale of the specific changes needed to facilitate application to advanced reactors.

Screening Review: 10CFR50, NUREG-0800, and Reactor-related Regulatory Guides

Screening Review: 10CFR70 + Selected Interim Staff Guidance

Screening Review: 10CFR71, NUREG-1609, NUREG-4775, and Shipping-Related Reg Guides