Is Nuclear really that expensive?
Is nuclear power really expensive?
Nuclear more expensive? Maybe, maybe not. I dont advocate for one source of power over another, I advocate for a balance. #Electricity is so central to our existence that we need all the substantial contributors but we also need good quality, controllable and predictable sources. We simply cannot allow our national wellbeing to be at the whims of the weather, who invades whom, the next Norwegian sector gas contract, or the destination of LNG tankers swanning around the northern hemisphere looking for the highest price.
Im no expert in the real costs of #offshore #wind, but here are commentators out there who probably are. What I am certain of is that those costs are very difficult to get at, surrounded as they are by hype, vested interest, tax treatments, subsidies, load factors, grid connection fees, supply tariffs and who knows what else. The public (and politicians for that matter) need a very honest statement of those costs and those of other sources too. I hope #NESO can do that.
I do wonder if any published costs for offshore wind actually include the unbuilt and controversial hundreds of miles of overhead transmission lines, or, if a 30 year design life is the thing, the replacement costs of turbines over time. That design life is half that of a #nuclear power station.
Building nuclear would be a huge boost to the #construction #industry and its supply chain, including #essential #minerals and manufactured products, jobs and skills growth. A substantial proportion of the invoiced cost would come back to the public exchequer by way of corporation, personal and VAT taxes. A healthy construction sector is always good for a national economy. So I suspect that the net cost is not too bad - and for that we get some energy security, clean sine wave controllable power, reliable and predictable with a very high efficiency over decades, and better potential to make some Hydrogen too.
In contrast the energy costs support that we all benefitted from a couple of winters ago was a reported £65 billion that was effective for a year or so but was dead money and is gone forever. No legacy apart from a larger national debt for us all to fund. That would have bought 2 Hinkley Cs with cash left over. Dont get me started on HS2..
Running the grid alone now costs £4.19 billion per year, up 250% since 2019 largely driven by instability. Approximately £2 billion per year of that is the excess inflation alone and it will rise. If we take a mid point of say 2022 then in another 10 years well have paid for another Hinkley C on just the increase.
So I dont see nuclear as that expensive, whereas the costs of not having UK self sufficiency, #energy #security, and a clean high quality grid are incalculable. A grid supported by nuclear stability would be better able to support #renewable inputs so a potential win win.
