Some impacts of restricting nuclear energy availability

Abstract

Although the present average costs of generating electricity from nuclear reactors are less than the average cost of power from fossil fuel plants, the pressures for additional regulatory controls on nuclear power plants raise the possibility that nuclear power might become unavailable as an energy alternative. With the help of a model of U.S. interfuel competition developed at SRI, some of the implications of various alternative assumptions about the future availability of nuclear power are examined. The economic costs of a nuclear moratorium are evaluated for two different forecasts of energy demand growth. Although the loss of the nuclear option is offset by a substantial increase in eastern and western coal production, the net cost of this replacement-over 20 billion dollars annually by 2000-is substantial.