Causes and Effects of Rising Production Costs in the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry

Nuclear power production costs have increased to the point where nuclear power no longer is as competitive as it once was with other forms of power generation such as coal. Pressures to cut nuclear power production costs have been growing, but concerns have been raised about the impacts of any future cost reductions on safety. Industry claims that rising production costs are a consequence of regulation and that better-performing plants have lower costs. The authors' analysis of the 1987-1990 data suggests that production cost increases are sig nificantly related to enhancements in efficiency; they have no bearing on safety.