The Wall Street Journal reports that new-generation nuclear power plants are going to end up costing quite a bit more than estimates. Not just a few percents, but double to quadruple, or $5 billion to $12 billion a plant.
So what’s to keep the costs from doubling again, and why were previous estimates unrealistically low?
That the price of a new nuclear plant is to be double of estimates, is a consequence of rising commodity prices, steel for rebars, steam turbines etc, energy for cement manufacturing and transport of goods, and not the least wages, as the available qualified labour force [engeneers to nuclear technicians, etc] is very limited due to no recent construction of such palnts, the ex[perienced labour is not available.
In my recollection, even in the “old days” plants often cost double their estimate. I recall in partiular the Seabrook plant, which was supposed to provide cheap power for the people of New England. It ended up bankrupting the utility instead.