Why Does Nuclear Power Plant Construction Cost So Much?
8th June 2024
Nuclear plant construction is often characterized as exhibiting “negative learning.” That is, instead of getting better at building plants over time, we’re getting worse. Plants have gotten radically more expensive, even as technology has improved and we understand the underlying science better
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Most nuclear plant cost increase in the 1970s-80s can be attributed to increased labor costs. An estimate by United Engineers and Constructors found that from 1976-1988, labor costs for plant construction climbed 18.7% annually, while material costs escalated by only 7.7% annually (against an overall inflation rate of 5.5%) Of those labor costs, over half were due to expensive professionals: engineers, supervisors, quality control inspectors, and so on.
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Why did labor costs increase? According to most observers, increasing regulation made plants increasingly burdensome to build. During the late 60s and early 70s, regulatory requirements steadily increased.
June 8th, 2024 at 18:29
Exotic materials have skyrocketed in price. We went from a weekly allowable cost estimate for material to a day by day cost est. Every time there is a cost overrun look back to what changed. Delays? Add 3% minimum for every year delayed just for spiraling costs. Delay for 3 years? It’s not just a 9% increase, it’s exponential. Some of these pieces of equipment take years to cast, machine and ship. Most of it is very hard to come by alloys. Change orders cause havoc to schedules, deliverables, and labor costs. New govts bring in new regulations (carbon tax) that now have to be re assessed.
Figure in the good times it took ten years to build a nuke plant and that is when things are going smoothly.