Estimating the costs of nuclear power

The debate on this topic is fairly confusing. Some present electricity production using nuclear power as an affordable solution, others maintain it is too expensive. These widely divergent views prompt fears among consumers and voters that they are being manipulated: each side is just defending its own interests and the true cost of nuclear power is being concealed.

Companies and non-governmental organizations certainly adopt whatever position suits them best. But at the same time, the notion of just one ‘true’ cost is misleading. As we shall see in this section there is no such thing as the cost of nuclear power: we must reason in terms of costs and draw a distinction between a private cost and a social cost. The private cost is what an operator examines before deciding whether it is opportune to build a new nuclear power plant. This cost varies between different investors, particularly as a function of their attitude to risks. On the other hand the social cost weighs on society, which may take into account the risk of proliferation, or the benefits of avoiding carbon dioxide emissions, among others. The cost of actually building new plant differs from one country to the next.