nuclear-news

AREVA’s nuclear plant could cost Ameren $10 billion

Expert: New Ameren nuclear plant cost could balloon to $10 billion St. Louis Business Journal – by Kelsey Volkmann, March 30, 2011, The cost of Ameren’s proposed second nuclear plant in Callaway County could balloon to more than $10 billion, an energy expert said Wednesday.

“Historically, the record shows that all plants (of this design) come in over-budget,” Stephen Thomas, a professor of energy studies at the University of Greenwich Business School in London, told reporters on a conference call. “Consumers would be exposed to massive risk of extra costs if and when things don’t go as planned with the second Callaway plant.”…….

Thomas, author of “The EPR in Crisis,” has studied Areva’s EPR projects in Finland and France, where he said construction was plagued with delays, cost overruns and increasing subsidies from taxpayers and customers.

A decade ago, designers of EPR promised cheaper and safer plants but that hasn’t turned out to be true, according to Thomas.

Thomas pointed to an original price tag of Ameren’s plant of $1.6 billion but said the cost could end up totaling more than $10 billion.

“Saying that they were safer and cheaper was a delusion on the part of the nuclear industry or the industry deceiving the public,” he said. “Unsubsidized orders are not going to be feasible.”

Mike Cleary, an Ameren spokesman, said Thomas’ $1.6 billion price estimate is 30 years old, dating back to the 1970s when plans for Callaway first called for two reactors……

March 31, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs