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True costs of nuclear energy can’t be estimated – as insurance is inadequate

The true cost of disaster insurance makes nuclear power uncompetitive, Ecologist Ingmar Schumacher, 6th February 2014 “…….Quantifying nuclear power’s real costs The second issue with the socialization of costs is that it is unlikely to lead to a thorough quantification of the true costs of nuclear energy.

While we have seen some attempts to quantify the costs of nuclear disasters, a thorough analysis for most European countries remains non-existent.

The fact that these assessments have not been undertaken in most countries shows clearly that these potential costs are not integrated into the Cost-Benefit analysis of most countries’ nuclear energy.

However, without this assessment we are unaware of the ‘below-the-counter’ subsidy that governments provide to the nuclear industry in case of disasters, and we are simply ignorant of the true costs of nuclear energy.

This makes a thorough comparison of the costs and benefits of nuclear energy extremely difficult if not impossible……

Poorer countries tend to have lower insurance levels. As nuclear disasters nearly always turn into international problems, it should not be the case that the insurance cover in poorer countries is lower, since international spillovers to richer countries need to be covered, too.

So either poorer countries have to be able to cover spillover costs to richer countries, or international solidarity needs to plan for this eventuality.

So – the greater the degree of solidarity, the more room is given to free-riding and moral hazard, and the true costs of nuclear disasters remain unquantified.

And the less the degree of solidarity, the more likely it is that major disasters will lead to the default of either an operator or an installation state – and that those who bear the cost of a disaster may not receive full compensation…….http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2265605/the_true_cost_of_disaster_insurance_makes_nuclear_power_uncompetitive.html

February 7, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized