Deployment of SPS avoids the consumption of 4 x 10$, 6 x 10$, and 10 x 10$ m^ of water in the year 2030 for scenarios CI, UI, and UH, respectively. These are 30%, 28%, and 19% of the amounts that would otherwise be consumed in the respective scenarios. Another point of reference is the estimated 8.1 x 10$ m^ of water consumed for baseload electricity generation in 1980. The main factor driving water consumption (and consumption of any other resource) is energy demand. The saving due to SPS deployment in scenario UH is dominated by the issue of supplying roughly 50 x 10$ m^ of water on an annual basis. Clearly, the probability that the water demands of scenario CI or scenario UI will be met has to be much higher than that for scenario UH. 4.5.5 Labor Overview. The labor assessment estimated the number of workers required for plant construction, operation and maintenance, and fuel cycle for each of the technologies. Again, both side-by-side and alternative futures analyses were performed. Side-by-Side Analysis. Labor requirements were developed by the technology characterizations activity and are listed in Tables 4.40 and 4.41. Table 4.40 lists requirements for a specific plant design and is useful for considering socioeconomic impacts during the construction phase and the O&M phase. Table 4.41 lists requirements on a per-GW (installed) basis, which is useful for the alternative futures analysis. Labor categories are construction, operation (including maintenance), and fuel cycle. Except for SPS and TPV, there is little difference in the per-unit labor requirements for construction; SPS requires the largest crew size but also has the largest capacity, while TPV requires the smallest crew size but also has the smallest capacity. These differences are important in considering socioeconomic impacts on localities during construction, discussed in Sec. 4.6. Annual labor requirements for operation and maintenance (O&M) are significantly different from fuel cycle labor requirements. The approximate numbers of persons required per plant for O&M and the fuel cycle are 900 for coal, 400 for fission and SPS, 200 for fusion, and 26 for TPV. The large coal number is attributable to its fuel cycle (mainly mining) requirements. Operation and maintenance requirements are about the same for all technologies, except for TPV. The ratio of construction force to O&M force is generally about 4 or 5. However, for SPS the difference amounts to about 2000 people, which could be a significant factor affecting the magnitude of a boom/bust transition at a rural location. Alternative Futures Analysis. There is little difference in the construction labor requirements per GW of installed capacity among the technologies. Since SPS requires the smallest labor force, scenarios with higher penetration rates for SPS would result in lower total construction labor requirements.
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