Nuclear power doesn’t stack up says The Australia Institute
The Australia Institute climate and energy program director Richie Merzian said the main problem with nuclear power was its high cost.
“The biggest barrier to nuclear power in Australia is that it is uneconomic, the costs of establishing a nuclear industry simply don’t stack up,” Mr Merzian said.
The report points out that reactors built over the last decade took on average 10 years to construct, with times ranging from 4.1 years to 43.5 years. Almost all nuclear plans experienced cost blowouts.
Originally estimated to cost £6 billion ($A11 billion) in 2013, this grew to £14.5 billion ($A27.4 billion) in 2015, then blew out to £37 billion ($A70 billion) just a year later. By 2017, estimates suggested it could cost a staggering £50 billion ($A94 billion) over its operation.The developers of the project have also been guaranteed a price of £92.50 ($A174) per megawatt hour for all electricity sold to the market over a 35-year term. This price is more than double the current average wholesale price in the UK.
