nuclear-news

Citigroup reports on Nuclear Economics – the”corporate killer”

New Nuclear – the Economics Say No 14 November 09 Citgroup’s new report called ‘New Nuclear – The Economics Say No’ describes the financial risks of building new nuclear reactors as ‘Corporate Killers’.  ‘ “…..• We see very little prospect of construction costs falling and every likelihood of them rising further.
• We calculate that a new nuclear station will require €65/MWh (?8.5/MWh) in real terms year in year out to hit its breakeven hurdle rate.
• The returns for new nuclear development will need to be underpinned by the government and the risks shared with the taxpayer / consumer.
• Evidence to date suggests time delays in new nuclear construction can be significant.
• Construction delays and planning problems have led to a 77% increase in construction costs at the Olkiluoto site [in Finland].
• In a purely merchant market (such as the UK) where wholesale power prices need to cover construction costs over the life of the project, there is no active way for a developer to recover cost overruns.
• Neither the UK nor the US have yet approved any designs and although it will be a lengthy process anyway, amendments and additional configurations for each country’s demands could be highly problematic………..

Nuclear power: the Corporate Killer

November 14, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons