Alumni
The Cost of Nuclear Power
There are two ways to look at the cost of nuclear power. One is the cost to the consumer. By this measure, nuclear power is very cheap.
Figures compiled by Global Energy Decisions, an organization that provides data to the energy industry, put the cost of electricity from nuclear at 1.72 cents per kilowatt hour as of 2006. Coal came in at 2.37 cents, gas at 6.75 cents, and oil at 9.63 cents.
The other measure is the real cost of producing nuclear power, which takes into account subsidies, any long-term damage to the environment, and the cost of storing nuclear waste. That cost is the subject of debate.
“Without subsidies, the cost of nuclear power may prove to be economically uncompetitive,” Mark Brownstein, of the group Environmental Defense, told the Deane Conference. But he added, “It is also a fact that just about every other form of advanced generation receives a subsidy to some degree.”
Environmental costs may be harder to resolve. For example, the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear plant caused extensive environmental damage.
But on a day-to-day basis, nuclear power produces power basically free of greenhouse gases, which many scientists blame for warming the planet. Coal-fired plants are a substantial contributor of greenhouse gases. These complex issues show that figuring out the true cost of any form of power can be a complicated matter.
There are two ways to look at the cost of nuclear power. One is the cost to the consumer. By this measure, nuclear power is very cheap.
Figures compiled by Global Energy Decisions, an organization that provides data to the energy industry, put the cost of electricity from nuclear at 1.72 cents per kilowatt hour as of 2006. Coal came in at 2.37 cents, gas at 6.75 cents, and oil at 9.63 cents.
The other measure is the real cost of producing nuclear power, which takes into account subsidies, any long-term damage to the environment, and the cost of storing nuclear waste. That cost is the subject of debate.
“Without subsidies, the cost of nuclear power may prove to be economically uncompetitive,” Mark Brownstein, of the group Environmental Defense, told the Deane Conference. But he added, “It is also a fact that just about every other form of advanced generation receives a subsidy to some degree.”
Environmental costs may be harder to resolve. For example, the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear plant caused extensive environmental damage.
But on a day-to-day basis, nuclear power produces power basically free of greenhouse gases, which many scientists blame for warming the planet. Coal-fired plants are a substantial contributor of greenhouse gases. These complex issues show that figuring out the true cost of any form of power can be a complicated matter.