Safe and Reliable…
But can nuclear plants be competitive?
Over the past three decades, the U.S. Nuclear Industry achieved unprecedented levels of safety and reliability; providing nearly 20 percent of domestic electricity all of which is produced carbon-free. Since the turn of the century, however, rising operations and maintenance (O&M) costs and an evolving electricity market threaten the long-term financial viability of the fleet. Consequently, a new approach to performance improvement is needed, one that protects safety and reliability while concurrently lowering costs.
But what should this approach be?
To meet the current financial challenge, utility leaders should broaden their focus to include other business functions – such as human capital management – that are contributing to the rising operations and maintenance (O&M) spend.