Funding nuclear power and radioactive waste
Professor Gordon MacKerron, SPRU, University of Sussex The UK Government expects substantial new investment in nuclear power as part of its approach to reducing carbon emissions and improving energy security. It argues that it will not subsidise nuclear power but that it is taking \’facilitative actions\’ to smooth the path to substantial nuclear investment. Achieving new nuclear investment will require investors to believe that the balance between risk and expected reward is sufficiently positive for them to commit very large sums. (If each of the designated ten future nuclear sites were to have one reactor each located on them, the total addition to capacity would be c. 16,000 MW at a capital cost that would almost certainly exceed £20 bn., possibly by a large margin.) This paper examines the various commercial risks to which nuclear power is subject and concentrates on the degree of comfort that current plans for radioactive waste management will offer investors. This analysis will examine both current \’physical\’ plans e.g. the need for operators to provide for around 160 years of on-site storage for spent nuclear Read more…
Categories: Academic Papers, Electricity and nuclear, Energy and environment, Finance and investment
Tags: Climate change, conference 2010, Decommissioning, Electricity generation, Energy in a Low carbon economy, Finance, Gordon Mackerron, Nuclear, Power Regulation, Risk, Safety
Funding nuclear power and radioactive waste - Presentation.pdf 305.39 KBSep
2010