A new study puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear
plants at from 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour — triple current
U.S. electricity rates! This staggering price is far higher than
the cost of a variety of carbon-free renewable power sources
available today — and ten times the cost of energy efficiency
(see “Is 450 ppm possible? Part 5: Old coal’s out, can’t wait
for new nukes, so what do we do NOW?“). The new study, Business
Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power, is one of the most
detailed cost analyses publically available on the current
generation of nuclear power plants being considered in this
country. It is by a leading expert in power plant costs, Craig
A. Severance. A practicing CPA, Severance is co-author of The
Economics of Nuclear and Coal Power (Praeger 1976), and former
Assistant to the Chairman and to Commerce Counsel, Iowa State
Commerce Commission. This important new analysis is being
published by Climate Progress because it fills a critical gap in
the current debate over nuclear