Despite Australian Prime Minister's most recent rejection of nuclear power for Australia there is a meme going around here and internationally that Australia is considering nuclear power. I trust that the Prime Minister will stick to his word, despite internal and international pressures - "Our position is clear ... we have a position against nuclear power" and that - there are 'unresolved questions' about nuclear power.
The most recent report by the California Energy Commission states it bluntly - nuclear is more expensive than every renewable energy for power generation. But I'll let Miguel Mendonça, a guest on This Week In Energy explain it:
"I would just direct you to the California Energy Commission's 'Comparative Costs of California Central Station Electricity Generation' in 2009, which says that the levelized cost of a nuclear power plant with the latest technology is the most expensive type of generation. It's more than every single renewable energy source per MWh. And I think the conversation should stop there.
That plant in Texas… having already had their cost estimate doubled originally, just was increased by another $4 billion and the city of I think it's Austin or maybe it's San Antonio which was an investor in that plant is considering pulling its investment out because they're not sure they want to go another $4 billion in for those two generators.
So the idea that nuclear is cheap is a total farce. My car is cheap when I've paid off the loan for it and that's why nuclear energy looks so cheap, but when it comes to building new generation, there's absolutely no reason we should consider using it. It's 2 to 3 times more expensive than other types of technology that we have, and that doesn't even include the fact that we're excusing the producers from any liability from accidents and from having to do anything with the waste."
So when you see figures quoting nuclear power as cheap, remember those figures exclude the cost to build the plants and any costs associated with the waste. Building new nuclear power plants is not an option, anywhere in the world. And that is… the end of the discussion.
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