ABSTRACT:
The objective of this assessment, sponsored by the DOE Satellite Power System (SPS) Project Division, is to develop, to the extent possible, information on the prospective viability of the SPS concept. It is intended that this assessment assist the decision maker in evaluating the significance of the SPS concept. To provide perspective, similar information is developed for a limited set of other electric power-producing technologies that could be deployed in the post-2OOO period. To accomplish this objective, pertinent information is displayed side-by-side for each of the alternate technologies, with all data normalized to unit bases such as dollars per megawatt or environmental residuals per megawatt. A later assessment will update and expand these side-by-side data and analyze the SPS role within various plausible future energy scenarios, to examine possible energy technology mixes, supply/demand cases, and the resultant environmental and resource issues and costs. Neither report will attempt to compare R&D and infrastructure cost requirements. It must be stressed that it was not the objective of this assessment to make direct comparisons between the technologies that are possible alternatives to SPS {e.g., between coal and fission, or fission and fusion, etc.). The speculative nature of estimating the costs of emerging technologies into the next century, in itself, makes such comparisons difficult. All assumptions, uncertainties, and inconsistencies have been noted and documented. Within the limitations of the assumptions made and of the data employed, it is believed that the side-by-side comparison of SPS with the alternatives is useful in the decision process.