The Table II factors are related to the base total energy demand in Fig. 4 for a range of nuclear plant characteristics. This figure shows the significant value of increasing the reactor core lifetime and/or the plant rating. Figure 4 is also indicative of the magnitude of the development costs that could be accepted in the furtherance of rating and core life increases under a variety of conditions. Since the Fig. 4 results disregard the effects of particular growth patterns in the base energy demand, a doubling of reactor core life has the same value as doubling the plant rating when only the launch vehicle logistic costs are considered. However, the growth pattern as well as reliability requirements must be considered in the trade off. As a start in addressing these issues, we can build on our experience with earth-based electric utility systems. For example, if we have an electric utility system which must
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