at least not in Western countries --
WNISR 2023 INTRO HTML - https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/-World-Nuclear-Industry-Status-Report-2023-.html
Main report: https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/The-World-Nuclear-Industry-Status-Report-2023-HTML.html
The France focus section is quite interesting. They haven't built a nuke plant this century. The ages are a problem along with lack of the skills needed. The one construction this century -- Flamanville 3 -- has been an embarrasment of cost overruns, shoddy workmanship, and delays. Hardly the EDF (Electricite De France) that built the great fleet last century that made France the nuclear power generation envy of the world.
https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/The-World-Nuclear-Industry-Status-Report-2023-HTML.html#_idTextAnchor127
In 2022, French reactors produced 279 TWh, a drop of over 120 TWh from the 2005–2015 period.
To put this decline into perspective, it significantly exceeds the loss of 106 TWh of annual nuclear generation between the years 2010 and 2022 in Germany (see Germany Focus) due to the progressive decrease following the phaseout decision in 2011.
... the discovery in December of that same year ((Dec 2021 -P)) of cracks in emergency core cooling systems led to the shutdown of the four largest (1500 MW) and most recent French reactors. The event represented an unexpected loss of 6 GW of capacity in the middle of the winter when consumption peaks in France.
... Subsequently, it turned out that certain 1300-MW reactors—there are 20 such units—were also showing similar symptoms and, as of mid-2022, 12 reactors were shut down due to the problem.
... For the first time since 1980, France turned into a net importer of electricity (16.7 TWh)176 with Germany playing a key role exporting 15.3 TWh net ((the 16.7 TWh is equivalent energy total-wise to 1.9 GW (or 1900 MW) being imported all 8760 hours of the year -P))
((Due to EDF's resulting financial problems, the French government nationalized it -- discussed in more detail -P))
... The plutonium-economy part of the industry is experiencing its own—underreported—crisis. The throughput of the equally ageing spent fuel reprocessing plant at La Hague dropped to 925 tons in 2022 (for a licensed capacity of 1,700 tons per year)
Things in double parenthesis ending in "-P" are my (Progree's) edits
An update from the World Nuclear Association, updated 5/21/24
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/france#:~:text=In%202022%20France%27s%20reactor%20fleet,service%20following%20inspections%20and%20repairs.
In 2022 France’s reactor fleet produced 282 TWh, well below the ten-year average of 395 TWh. Output rose in 2023 to 320 TWh as reactors returned to service following inspections and repairs. EDF estimates output of 315-345 TWh for 2024, and 335-365 TWh in both 2025 and 2026. ((Compare to the peak output of 430 TWh in 2005 according to WNISR 2023 -P))
The WNISR 2023 report also goes into the woes of Flamanville #3's cost overruns and delays, including one cost estimate, including financing costs, that is larger than the Vogtle 3&4 in $/KW (But I think the $34 B for Vogtle and most other plants are without the financing costs. Without the financing costs, the highest I found for Flamanville is 13.2 billion Euros at the end of 2022. With $1 = 0.9224 euros at the time:
13.2 B euros * 1/0.9224 = $14.3 B.
14.3 B$/1.65 GW = 8.67 $/W = 8,670 $/KW
I looked for updates on Flamanville's construction status yesterday, and it got approval to start up, and:
Montel, 5/13/24
https://montelnews.com/news/f7d9bde6-fb32-42c1-b7cd-d652c8716b1f/nuclear-critics-slam-asn-over-flamanville-approval Last month, EDF said it expected to connect the Flamanville EPR to the national grid this summer and reach full power by the end of the year.
So maybe it is done being an embarrasing story (there is also a UK focus in the WNISR 2023 report, where EDF is constructing a couple of plants, and it is not a pretty picture).
World-wide from WNISR 2023:
Since the official construction start at the second unit of Hinkley Point C in 2019 ((UK -P)) and until the end of 2023, all 31 construction starts happened either in China (20) or were implemented by the Russian nuclear industry in various countries
= new reply since forum marked as read