The real cost of nuclear electricity in the UK

Abstract

The detailed capital costs of the power stations for which CEGB provided comparative costs statistics in Appendix 3 of its 1979/80 Report, have become available in answer to a Parliamentary Question. Inflation corrected cost figures, calculated from these new data, support the conclusion of the previous approximate calculations, that the real cost of electricity from nuclear stations is greater than that for coal-fired stations. A previously unrecognized effect of inflation on nuclear fuel costs, together with the escalation of reprocessing costs, enhances this difference. An explanation and criticism of the CEGB's NEC calculation shows that this cost advantage to coal-fired stations is likely to be at least as great in the future. The amazing effects of Current Cost Accounting in the 1980/81 CEGB Report are commented on in an Appendix.