TPT September 2013

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Global Marketplace
106 September 2013
Navigant believes that the time and expense required to
license new reactor technology in the US is a primary reason
why many industry stakeholders believe that initial SMR
deployments will happen elsewhere: likely in China, which has
one of the most advanced SMR development programmes in
the world.
› There are SMR deployment programmes currently
underway in the US, and the market drivers may indeed
surmount the barriers. But, with the power markets in the US
having been radically changed by the development of shale
gas, American nuclear operators are feeling the pressure.
Dominion Resources cited unfavourable economics in the
shutdown of its Kewaunee reactor in Wisconsin in May. And
Duke Energy said in February that it would not restart Crystal
River 3, in Florida. The deciding factor was the high cost of
fixing mechanical problems at the plant.
Of related interest . . .
› Nearly two and a half years after the Fukushima disaster,
and with all but two of the 50 nuclear reactors in Japan off
line since the crisis, Japanese utility companies have moved
closer to restarting the reactors that once supplied about a
third of the nation’s power.
On 7 July, when new, stricter (and now compulsory) safety
requirements took effect, four of the nine Japanese nuclear
plant operators applied for safety inspections by the Nuclear
Regulation Authority for ten reactors at five plants supplying
the regions of Hokkaido, Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu.
Applications for two reactors at another plant were expected
later in the week. Only those reactors that pass inspection will
be allowed to reopen – possibly early next year.
Nearly all the Japanese utilities owning nuclear power plants
reported huge losses in the last fiscal year due to higher costs
for fuel imports.
Hokkaido Electric Power Co, for example, said that three idled
reactors were costing it $6mn daily. The nuclear operators
have already requested rate hikes or intend to do so.
› Germany’s ConergyAG has fallen victim to the global solar
panel price war. The Hamburg-based company – which
specialises in planning and installing photovoltaic systems –
filed for insolvency on 5 July. It has some 1,200 employees.
A recent government report found that about 24,000 jobs –
more than a fifth of all jobs in Germany’s once-burgeoning
solar panel industry – have been lost since 2011.
Solar industry revenue in the country dropped to $9.53bn in
2012 from $15.3bn the year before. The report cited a fall in
prices driven by cheap solar panels made in China.
Dorothy Fabian, Features Editor (USA)