nuclear

Detailed review of nuclear economics and constraints by Amory Lovins. Among the many detailed points made, the article also mentions our work:

"For illustration, Figure 3 optionally adds back windpower’s PTC but not the pre-2005 subsidies received by central stations, especially nuclear power. Those nuclear subsidies are complex, diverse and disputed but the most authoritative independent US expert, Doug Koplow, estimates ~$0.0079-0.0422/kWh, increased by another ~$0.034-0.040/kWh in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 for at least the next 6GWe ordered."

The review of plant economics and subsidies (and therefore the references to Earth Track's work on nuclear subsidies) was included in the first part of this article. Part 1 is accessible here; the second part, addressing reliability and energy security issues can be found here. 

Excerpt from Part 1 below:

With this week's application to build a new nuclear plant – the first such filing in nearly 30 years – the industry says the US is on the verge of a nuclear power renaissance.

With virtually no greenhouse-gas emissions, reactors are touted as part of the solution to global warming. Over the next 15 months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects a tidal wave of similar permit applications for up to 28 new reactors, costing up to $90 billion to build.

But the renaissance may be less robust than it looks...

Learn about the power of Policy-Enhanced Investing to turn nuclear power from the dog of Wall Street into the mightily-hyped favored solution for all of the US' energy woes in this tongue-and-cheek strategic review of the industry.

Released jointly with Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, US PIRG, and Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Updated estimates of subsidies to nuclear energy showing that 60-90% of the cost of new nuclear power is the result of public subsidy rather than private investment. Prepared for the Nuclear Policy Institute Symposium on Nuclear Power and Global Warming, November 2005.