Economic reasons
Another argument is the high cost of nuclear energy. According to the argument that nuclear energy has only been able to survive thanks to public subsidies. The World Council for Renewable Energy estimates that the nuclear industry has received approximately 1 billion dollars (adjusted to present value) of public funds worldwide, while all non-renewable energy has received more than 50,000 million dollars. Today, the generation of electricity through nuclear energy funds is more expensive than wind, comparable in price to the hydroelectric and cogeneration aerated timber, but cheaper than photovoltaic and the thermal consume fossil fuels (including combined cycle). However the costs of renewable energies are rapidly declining due to progress in increasing the efficiency and cost reduction. The European study “external” devoted to the external costs associated with electricity production technologies all the indirect investments costs (called externalities), says that only wind energy has lower external costs that the nuclear and hydro costs are lower or higher depending on the country. The other systems would have provided higher electricity costs.
The cost of radioactive waste management in Spain (which is paid through the electric charge and by companies that need their services, whether electrical, hospitals, research laboratories, etc. ), as calculated by the National Radioactive Waste SA 6A in its fifth Asset Management Radioactive Waste Plan, will be approximately 13,800 million euros. This calculation extends to the year 2070, and does not include costs or revenues for future years (the radiotoxicity of the waste is maintained for tens of thousands of years).
In Germany it is the state pays the costs of direct waste (spent fuel rods) citation needed , contaminated materials in power plants and the extraction of plutonium and uranium and other radioactive waste, such as generated in hospitals or universities, and the costs of storing this waste, because the industry lacks sufficient funds to do so citation needed .
Construction costs of nuclear power has traditionally been much higher than it estimated. In the U.S., a study of its 75 nuclear reactors shows that construction costs were more than 322 of budget. In India, the country with recent experience in construction of nuclear reactors, their last 10 facilities have exceeded Ernst their budgets by an average of 300 . Part of the increase in construction costs is due to the increased time required for the same: of the required 66 months on average in the mid-70 has in the last half of practice to 82 months (almost 7 years) between 2000 and 2005.
The cost of decommissioning nuclear power plants has been shown to be much higher than expected. For example, the dismantling of the power of the Yankee Rowe (Massachusetts, USA) cost about 450 million, compared with 120 million originally planned. Although so far few plants have been dismantled in the coming years many reached the end of their expected lives, and must be dismantled.
According to the Secretary of the International Conference for Renewable Energies 2004, nuclear is the energy source that generates less employment per unit of energy produced. Less than any renewable energy.
This excluded from the financial mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol, Asset Management which imposes penalties on companies emitting greenhouse gases, since nuclear energy not directly generated. This decision was given in July 2001, at the Bonn Summit of the Framework Convention for Climate Protection.
Nuclear power plants can not be secured only through private insurers. In 2005, the maximum amount of insurance for a nuclear plant in the funds U.S. was 300 million dollars. The costs of a serious nuclear accident could be much higher, which established a fund (called the Price-Anderson fund), which is funded by the companies themselves, which would cover any excess of the 300 million (in 2006 this fund was 9500 million dollars). In the case of Spain, according to a draft of the Draft Law on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, which reflects the international conventions that regulate this activity, the central management companies should establish a nuclear liability coverage in the amount of 1200 million, but insurers operating in the country (as elsewhere) do not have sufficient capacity to provide security, so the electricity tariff must cover the warranty for uninsurable damage, which ultimately result in a premium payment to the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade.
According to the American business magazine Forbes, “the failure of U.S. nuclear program is seen as the biggest corporate disaster in the history of business.”
The World Bank states that “a bank loan granted to the energy sector requires a review of policies, institutions and investments in the sector.
Hedge Fund Operational Due Diligence: Understanding the Risks (Wiley Finance) by Jason A. Scharfman (Hardcover – Dec 3, 2008)