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The economics of new nuclear power plants is a controversial subject, since there are diverging views on this topic, and multi-billion dollar investments ride on the choice of an energy source. Nuclear power plants typically have high capital costs for construction and for decommissioning as well as the ongoing and future costs of storing nuclear waste. The current benefits of nuclear energy include low fuel costs and low greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years there has been a slowdown of electricity demand growth and financing has become more difficult, which has an impact on large projects such as nuclear reactors, with very large upfront costs and long project cycles which carry a large variety of risks.〔 In Eastern Europe, a number of long-established projects are struggling to find finance, notably Belene in Bulgaria and the additional reactors at Cernavoda in Romania, and some potential backers have pulled out. Where cheap gas is available and its future supply relatively secure, this also poses a major problem for nuclear projects.〔 Analysis of the economics of nuclear power must take into account who bears the risks of future uncertainties. To date all operating nuclear power plants were developed by state-owned or regulated utility monopolies where many of the risks associated with construction costs, operating performance, fuel price, and other factors were borne by consumers rather than suppliers. Many countries have now liberalized the electricity market where these risks, and the risk of cheaper competitors emerging before capital costs are recovered, are borne by plant suppliers and operators rather than consumers, which leads to a significantly different evaluation of the economics of new nuclear power plants. Two of the four EPRs under construction (the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Finland and in France) are significantly behind schedule and substantially over cost. Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, costs are likely to go up for currently operating and new nuclear power plants, due to increased requirements for on-site spent fuel management and elevated design basis threats. ==Overview== John Quiggin, an economics professor, says that the main problem with the nuclear option is that it is not economically viable. Professor of science and technology Ian Lowe has also challenged the economics of nuclear power. However, nuclear supporters continue to champion reactors, often with proposed new but largely untested designs, as a source of new power.〔Jonathan Leake. " (The Nuclear Charm Offensive )" ''New Statesman'', 23 May 2005.〕〔Union of Concerned Scientists. (Nuclear Industry Spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Over the Last Decade to Sell Public, Congress on New Reactors, New Investigation Finds ) News Center, February 1, 2010.〕〔(Nuclear group spent $460,000 lobbying in 4Q ) ''Business Week'', March 19, 2010.〕 Independent reviews rarely show that nuclear power plants are necessarily very expensive,〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=European Commission )〕 but anti-nuclear groups frequently produce reports that say the costs of nuclear energy are prohibitively high. This is despite the fact that the cost of electricity in nuclear France is approximately half of that in Germany and Denmark.〔() 〕 In Ontario, hydroelectricity and nuclear have by far the cheapest generation costs, at 4.3c/kWh and 5.9c/kWh respectively, whilst solar costs a massive 50.4c/kWh. The cost of nuclear power also needs to be compared with that of the alternatives. If it proves possible to move to a post-carbon economy, the community will be required to meet the costs of the replacement source. Many countries, including Russia, South Korea, India, and China, have continued to pursue new builds. Globally, 71 nuclear power plants were under construction in 15 countries as of January 2015, according to the IAEA.〔name="IAEA PRIS database">http://www.iaea.org/pris/home.aspx〕 China has 25 reactors under construction, with plans to build more,〔World Nuclear Association (December 10, 2010). (Nuclear Power in China )〕〔(China is Building the World’s Largest Nuclear Capacity ) 21cbh.com, 21. Sep. 2010〕 However, according to a government research unit, China must not build "too many nuclear power reactors too quickly", in order to avoid a shortfall of fuel, equipment and qualified plant workers. In the United States, nuclear power faces competition from the low natural gas prices in North America. Former Exelon CEO John Rowe said in 2012 that new nuclear plants in the US “don’t make any sense right now” and won’t be economic as long as gas prices remain low.〔Jeff McMahon, ("Exelon’s nuclear guy: no new nukes" ), Forbes 29 Mar. 2012.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Economics of nuclear power plants」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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