UK new nuclear power could be the world's most costly

Carbon Brief has produced an analysis comparing the projected costs of new nuclear power in the UK and elsewhere, based from the report published jointly by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).

The report uses uniform assumptions along with specific data gathered in a survey of 181 plants in 22 countries including 11 planned nuclear plants.

Carbon Brief published data from the report on the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) comparing costs across nine countries.  Even using a 10% discount rate, a rough proxy for borrowing costs, they find new nuclear in the UK would cost £87/MWh; a fifth higher than France, a third more than the US and more than twice the projected costs for China or Korea.

However, Carbon Brief explains that the LCOE basis of comparison is imperfect due to different sets of risk profiles for each country and technology, which the report explains more in detail.  Carbon Brief also suggests that the UK figures may be more up to date and accurate than others.

See here for the summary of the Carbon Brief report.

For more information, help or advice please contact Andrew Davison on 0191 211 7950.