World's nuclear performance in 2005 close to 2004's

London (Platts)--13Feb2006

The world's nuclear operators appear to have squeezed just a little more out
of their plants in 2005 than in 2004, but with final figures nearly in, it's
close enough to call it a draw.

When British Energy reports its total output for the year later this month,
it's expected to run about 60-million megawatt-hours (MWH), which would bring
the total output from the world's 443 operating reactors to about 2.75-billion
MWH. That figure includes, for the first time, all seven of China's operating
units; adjusted for them, the 2004 world output was around 2.74-billion MWH.
The world average capacity factor was 79.25% in 2005; it was 78.97% in 2004.

U.S. operators came very close to their 2004 record, with gross output around
818-million MWH. The 2005 bottom line was 828-million MWH. Net output was
about 786-million MWH; the 2004 mark was 789-million MWH. The Nuclear Energy
Institute attributed the difference to more routine refueling outages falling
within the calendar year, and said the average variable cost of producing a
nuclear kilowatt-hour remained 1.68 cents.

The most marked increase in output was in South Korea, where Ulchin-6 began
commercial operation in April, but that 1,000-MW unit alone didn't account for
the country's 16-million MWH increase in generation.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. (KHNP) was in the process of shifting its
units to 18-month refueling cycles. That and "our extremely low scram rate"
meant that "last year we didn't have many units shut for refueling and
maintenance outages," said Senior Vice President Hong Jang-hee. Those factors
allowed the 20 Korean units not only to notch an average 94.97% capacity
factor but to take the top five spots on the list of 50 best capacity factors
for the year, led by Kori-4 at 104.85%?though those numbers may also reflect
some outdated unit ratings (see below).

The U.S. unit with the highest capacity factor was Constellation's Calvert
Cliffs-1, a Combustion Engineering (CE)-design PWR, at 101.99%. Right behind
were Exelon's Limerick-1, a GE BWR; Duke's Catawba-2, Progress Energy's
Shearon-Harris-1, and the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah-1, all
Westinghouse PWRs; Southern California Edison's San Onofre-3, a CE-design PWR;
Dominion's North Anna-1, a Westinghouse PWR; Exelon's LaSalle-1, and
Constellation's Nine Mile Point-2, both GE BWRs; and Southern Nuclear's
Farley-1, a Westinghouse PWR.

One new unit made a spectacular debut: Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka-5 in
Japan, which went commercial Jan. 18, 2005 and became the 7th best by capacity
factor and second highest power producer in the world in 2005. The 1,380-MW
Toshiba BWR broke into the top generator ranks otherwise dominated by the
giant German plants. Brokdorf, a 1,440-MW Siemens PWR owned by Vattenfall and
E.On, put out just a hair under 12-million MWH to take the top generating
spot.

Another new face among the top generators was number 10, Lithuania's
Ignalina-2, with 10.97-million MWH. The 1,500-MW Soviet-design RBMK is slated
to close in 2009 under Lithuania's European Union (EU) accession agreement
(see story, page 14).

French units continue to show lower overall capacity factors due to
load-following, because the grid doesn't need all their power. Canadian
operators are slowly returning laid-up nuclear units to service, but Ontario
Power Generation dropped plans to restore Pickering-2 and -3 after
experiencing substantial overruns restoring unit 4. In mid-year, Germany lost
a unit, Obrigheim, to early shutdown due to the country's nuclear phase-out
policy, as did Sweden with Barsebaeck-2. Lithuania shut Ignalina-1, under its
EU agreement, at the end of 2004.

The year was perhaps notable for what could have been, as operators in several
countries encountered regulatory and technical problems that kept their
production down.

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