Construction Costs
Construction costs for new reactors are unpredictable, extreme and continue to rise. Current estimates run as high as $12 billion per reactor but threaten to further sky-rocket, prompting the nuclear industry either to cancel plans for new plants or look to taxpayer-funded federal loan guarantees to cover the cost.
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In an April 28, 2009 Associated Press article, Mark Williams explores the enormous costs of building new nuclear plants, the subsidies needed to pay for them, and the rate hikes that some states allow even before ground is broken.
The still soaring costs of new nuclear plants plus protracted construction delays could make the so-called nuclear "renaissance" a non-starter and eliminate its alleged usefulness in addressing climate change, a mainstay of the pro-nuclear argument, reports Scientific American. The article references the new MIT updated study on global nuclear power prospects.
July 8, 2009