The report gives results of an evaluation of the comparative economics of utility ash disposal by five conceptual design variations of ponding and landfill for a 500-MW power plant producing 5 million tons of ash over the life-of-project. For a basic pond disposal without water reuse, the total capital investment from hopper collection through 1-mile sluicing and pond disposal is $/52/kW (1982$). Comparable total system investment using trucking to a landfill is $/30/kW. (All disposal site construction costs were fully capitalized in in both cases; this convention affects the comparison of annual revenue requirements). First-year annual revenue requirements for the ponding system are 1.85 mills/kWh (1984$); those for the landfill system are lower (1.66 mills/kWh). On the other hand, levelized annual revenue requirements are 2.26 and 2.42 mills/kWh, respectively. Disposal site costs are the major element in all types of disposal and constituted the major difference in cost between pond and landfill disposal. Reuse of sluicing water and additional provisions for the disposal of self-hardening (high calcium oxide) ash added relatively little to costs.

Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development by Tennessee Valley Authority, Office of Power, Division of Energy Demonstrations and Technology. " EPA 600-7-81-170." "October 1981." Includes bibliographical references (pages 162-169).