Extracting strategic value from nuclear assets

Over the past 40 yr, nuclear power has played an increasingly important role as a provider of the electric generation capacity in the US. As expanding technologies and innovative business processes continue to provide for economic growth and development, electricity will grow as a progressively larger share of total energy consumption on both a national and global scale. However, restructuring and deregulation continue to shape the electric utility industry and provide testing platforms for those competitive technologies in power generation. It is important that the nuclear option be closely examined and the appropriate strategies be developed for maintaining and improving the utilization of this valuable resource during this very demanding period of industry transition. The articulation and execution of viable strategies are crucial when considering that (a) 40% of existing nuclear capacity will retire within the next 15 yr and (b) 25% of the current nuclear work force will retire within the next 10 yr. Therefore, nuclear power must be able to identify and extract the strategic values of its intrinsic characteristics and core benefits to continue as an important commodity supplier in this energy marketplace. The authors examine the current competitive energy marketplace and explore the necessary business elements that both executive management and senior technical officers must consider when developing strategies and initiatives for rationalizing and optimizing nuclear assets. Costs alone are not the sole measure of whether nuclear will be operationally competitive in this new marketplace. The key elements and issues of nuclear generation are evaluated in three categories: industry environment, market responses, and strategic options and initiatives. The first two areas are covered in a cursory fashion, enabling the opportunity to develop the last item (options and initiatives) in the context of the activities and expectations of the external marketplace