Another report in a continuing series
Why would anyone want to work in the nuclear industry after Fukushima? The answer is that on a global scale it is a rapidly growing field. The U.S. NRC is on the verge of licensing four new 1,100 MW Westinghouse AP1000 light water reactors. Two will be at Southern's Vogtle site in Georgia and two more will be at Scana's V.C Summer site in South Carolina.
Taken together the combined value of construction of the four reactors is in the range of $25-30 billion which also includes generators, turbines, transmission lines and substations. Each project will generate 3,000-5000 construction jobs and 800-1,000 permanent jobs.
TVA is completing the Watts Bar reactor in Tennessee and has recently awarded over a billion dollars in contracts to Areva for work on completing the Bellefonte reactor in Alabama.
Overseas there are even more opportunities so get a passport and hit the road. Here are some opportunities.
Exelon to provide nuclear consulting services in China
U.S. nuclear fleet operator Exelon (NYSE:EXC) will provide consulting and training services to China's state-owned China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC). The fact that the deal was signed indicates China wants to boost its expertise in managing nuclear power plants and that it cannot grow the capability from within.
SNC Lavalin expects a profit after buying AECL
Canadian construction giant SNC Lavalin, which scooped up the reactor version of AECL for a song earlier this year, says it is forecasting profits. The first glint of green will come from the a contract to upgrade Argentina's Embalse Candu power station.
Reactor deals drive demand for uranium
A key indication of how the global nuclear industry is doing, and where it is headed, comes from investments in uranium mining. For the past few months a classic bidding war has been underway in Canada over a new uranium ore deposit in the Athabasca basis in Saskatchewan. The Roughrider deposit owned by Hathor (TSE:HAT) is the subject of competing offers from Canadian uranium giant Cameco (TSE:CCO) and an equally determined effort by Australian firm Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO).
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1 comment:
This article discusses the five new plants that will be the only plants built in the next twenty years, Vogtle, Summer, and Watts Bar. I have my doubts about Bellefonte being completed.
The primary reason for building these plants is to obtain new blood in the nuclear industry, which I don't see lasting beyond 2020 without it. The average age of nuclear plant personnel is fifty-something. New blood is obtained from new plants; that is where most of those currently in the industry came.
If the 20 percent of U.S. electricity generated by nuclear power disappeared in 2 or 3 years, there would be a disaster, and that can happen if no new personnel enter the industry.
I live in north Texas near the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The nuclear renaissance died here, when methods were developed to economically extract the vast volume of natural gas contained in the Barnett shale. There is enough natural gas in Barnett and similar shales to power this country for a couple of centuries. But having nuclear available will prevent price gouging.
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