A nuclear power plant has the following characteristics:

• Capacity = 2.00 Gigawatts
• Capacity factor = 95.0%
• Conversion efficiency [Uranium  Electricity] = 45.0%
• Capital Cost = $15 billion
• Fixed O&M Costs = $10.2 million/year
• Plant lifetime = 40 years
• Discount Rate = 10.0%

a. How much electricity (in MWh) is generated per year?

b. What is the Capital Recovery Factor? What must be assumed for us to be able to use a CRF?

c. Calculate the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of this nuclear power plant. Assume that uranium costs $80/kg and that 1 kg of uranium contains 24e6 kWh.

d. How would the capacity of the plant need to change in order for the LCOE to decrease to be comparable to the LCOE of a wind farm (assume ~$0.035/kWh)? What does this mean in terms of economic competitiveness of the two technologies?