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DOE announces NEPA exclusion for advanced reactors
The Department of Energy has announced that it is establishing a categorical exclusion for the application of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures to the authorization, siting, construction, operation, reauthorization, and decommissioning of advanced nuclear reactors.
According to the DOE, this significant change, which goes into effect today, “is based on the experience of DOE and other federal agencies, current technologies, regulatory requirements, and accepted industry practice.”
J. G. Delene
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 807-812
Advanced Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29443
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The projected cost of electricity (COE) for conventional tokamak fusion plants is compared with that from current and advanced nuclear fission and coal-fired plants. Fusion cost models were adjusted for consistency with advanced fission plants and the calculational methodology and cost factors follow guidelines recommended for cost comparisons of advanced fission reactors. The results show COEs of about 59–74 mills/kWh for the fusion designs considered. In comparison, COEs for future fission reactors are estimated to be in the 43–54 mills/kWh range with coal-fired plant COEs of about 53–69 mills/kWh ($2–3/GJ coal). The principal cost driver for the fusion plants relative to fission plants is the fusion island cost. Although the estimated COEs for fusion are greater than those for fission or coal, the costs are not so high as to preclude fusion's competitiveness as a safe and environmentally sound alternative.