US Nuclear Plants Set New Capacity Record for August

Sep 25 - Global Data Point

As estimated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency , the record-breaking average capacity factor also improves on July's 97 percent performance and the 96.4 percent capacity average achieved in August 2014.

"The August record is a direct result of operating safely, as well as the substantial investments made by U.S. utilities in training, upgrades and facility maintenance," NEI Vice President for Nuclear Operations Joe Pollock said.

Capacity factor compares the amount of electricity a power plant produces over a given period to the maximum it could produce at continuous full power operation during the same period.

As the chart shows, nuclear plant capacity factors since the early 2000s have maintained an annual average near 90 percent. Capacity factors across the industry cannot reach 100 percent in a given year due to refueling outages.

According to NEI's most recent Nuclear Performance Report, estimated U.S. nuclear generation in August 2015 was 72.4 billion kilowatt-hours, compared to 71.1 billion kilowatt-hours in the same month last year.

With the end of summer and its peak demand for electricity, some nuclear power plants will head into scheduled shutdown periods for maintenance and refueling. NEI's report notes that capacity factors during the fall months will drop lower than in previous years due to a busier-than-usual outage season. However, the average duration of outages is expected to drop this year, as it has in previous outage periods, reducing the time reactors will be idled.

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