Financing Nuclear Power
Dr Ron Cameron
5.30 for 6 pm Wednesday 24 May 2017.
Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium, Ground Floor, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood, NSW.
Meeting hosted by the Nuclear Engineering Panel, Engineers Australia.
Abstract:
Nuclear power has many important characteristics that help deliver a long-term, secure and low carbon source of electricity. It can also stabilise the grid and enable an effective integration of intermittent renewables. However, the costs of new build continue to climb and private investment in new nuclear power plants is virtually impossible in the framework of the current class of liberalised electricity markets.
In this talk, Dr Cameron will examine how the costs of nuclear power have changed, how it is currently being financed in countries around the world and what the impacts are likely to be for existing vendors and for potential buyers of nuclear power plants.
This naturally leads to the question of whether we are measuring the real costs when we focus only on capital and operating costs. Is it time to move to total system costs?
Finally, the talk will cover the potentially disruptive entry of small modular reactors and consider whether they can realistically provide an alternative route forward.
About Ron Cameron:
Dr Ron Cameron has an in-depth knowledge of the nuclear industry acquired over 35 years, covering both power and research reactors. He is a director of his own consultancy company, providing specialist advice to the UK Government on nuclear new build until July 2016, interacting directly with overseas vendors, investors and their supply chains. Prior to that role, he was Head of the Nuclear Development Division at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, which provides advice to 28 member governments on policy and strategic issues related to all aspects of nuclear power development and the nuclear fuel cycle. He has also held executive roles as Chief of Operations, Executive General Manager and interim Chief Executive of ANSTO and was the Project Director for the construction of the OPAL research reactor in Sydney. Previously, he held leadership roles in the UK Atomic Energy Authority and in the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
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