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Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Nuclear Power

Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Nuclear Power Energy Matters 22 June 09 Nuclear power has been increasingly hailed by lobbyists as a source of clean, cheap and safe power; but cost blowouts in the construction and maintenance of new nuclear plants, along with their need for massive amounts of water and continuing radioactive waste storage issues, is again making renewable energy look to be the only really viable option to power our future.

According to a recent study by economist Dr. Mark Cooper, a senior fellow for economic analysis at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, the cost of electricity generated by new nuclear reactors would be (USD) 12-20 cents per kilowatt hour, whereas increased energy efficiency and renewable energy sourced power would cost around 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

This translates to USD $1.9 trillion to $4.1 trillion more over the life of 100 new nuclear reactors.

Projected construction and maintenance costs for nuclear plants have quadrupled since the start of the nuclear renaissance in 2000. The required massive subsidies from taxpayers and ratepayers would not change the real cost of nuclear reactors, they would just shift the risks to the public, according to the report.

Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Nuclear Power : Renewable Energy News

June 21, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, renewables