Advice across the board is that nuclear power plants take a really long time and cost a lot of money. They almost always go far over time and budget. And they’re expensive to operate. Why is that so?
In: Engineering
Safety mostly. You really really really really really really really really really really (add a few hundred more reallys) don’t want a bad accident at a nuclear power plant and the damn things shave to be operated safely for 30-50 years before being decommissioned – and they have to withstand every conceivable condition and occurrence (storms, earthquakes, floods, tidal waves, aging infrastructure. etc etc). Everything has to be over engineered and have multiple redundancies. Then you have a whole layer of security on top of that that typical power plants don’t have. Fuel or spent fuel can’t make an atomic weapon but can definitely be used in a dirty bomb.
There’s a whole complicate regulatory environment that may be overkill – but obtaining the necessary environmental approvals can take years and years and that’s before you start building anything.
You also have to account for the costs of storing spent fuel and ultimately decommissioning a plant which can be nearly as expensive as building one.
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