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IS ELECTRICITY PRODUCED BY NUCLEAR ENERGY CHEAP?
IS ELECTRICITY PRODUCED BY NUCLEAR ENERGY CHEAP?
The cost of producing
electricity from a particular energy source varies over time; but in
some areas of the country electricity can be produced more cheaply by
nuclear energy than by coal-fired plants. As the 1990 Clean Air Act
clamps down on air pollution from coal-fired power plants, those
utilities will be faced with the purchase of expensive scrubbers to
reduce air pollution. This additional expenditure may make nuclear power
appear more economical by comparison.
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Proponents of nuclear energy
usually point to France, which gets 70 to 80 percent of its
electricity from nuclear energy. In France, electricity generated
by nuclear plants is 30 percent less expensive than that generated
from coal. Nuclear energy proponents believe there is no reason why
the United States could not achieve the same economic efficiency.
Opponents of nuclear power dismiss
the example of France because the French government heavily
subsidizes the nuclear industry. Among other things, the French
government funds research and development, waste disposal, and
insurance coverage for its nuclear industry. The government-owned
utility, Electricite de France, currently has a debt of $3? Billion,
yet government-approved rate increases are hard to obtain. |
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The true costs of nuclear energy are not always obvious in utility
bills, whether in France or in the United States. The generation of
electricity using nuclear energy is very expensive when all
costs are taken into account, including the cost of building and
maintaining the nuclear power plant, the cost of storing and disposing
of spent fuel and other radioactive wastes, and the cost of dismantling
the nuclear power plant after it is too old to safely and economically
produce energy.
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