The alleged “renaissance of nuclear power” was already on shaky footing before the Fukushima accident. Actually, the number of nuclear power plants is decreasing steadily around the world. During the next 15-20 years, more old installations will go off the grid than new ones will start up. Today, no utility around the world risks building a new nuclear power plant without government subsidies and guarantees. The estimated construction cost for the new EPR nuclear plant in Olkiluoto, Finland, for instance, almost doubled from 3 billion Euro to around 5.7 billion Euro, or close to 3,500 Euro per kilowatt. As French utility admitted in July 2011, its Flamanville EPR project is not doing any better and is now estimated to cost 6 billion Euro. Both projects are about four years behind schedule. In addition, there are the unresolved problems of final storage of nuclear waste and the enormous cost of decommissioning. Finally, raising the safety standards in the wake of Fukushima will increase the cost of nuclear energy even further. On the other hand, in 2010 renewable energy sources, excluding large hydro, received over $150 billion in private investment in the world.
The international conference "What the future of energy systems willl be?" on 13. October in Prague fostered an international debate on the cost of nuclear power and the prospects of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. During the conference, The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010-2011 and update was presented by its lead author, Mycle Schneider, and we offer you video of his presentation as well as PPTs presentations of other internationally and locally renowned energy experts.
The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010-2011 (Update)
video Mycle Schneider, international consultant, lead author of the report, PPT
Short videos (8 minutes):
Steve Thomas: Nuclear energy in the UK and EU, Mycle Schneider: Global perspectives of the nuclear energy and the renewables
PANEL I: Costs and prospects of nuclear energy, renewables and energy saving
technologies
František Hrdlička, Dean, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Czech Technical University
Steve Thomas, professor of economics, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom
Martin Sedlák, energy systems’ analyst, Calla, Czech Republic
PANEL II: Germany‘s nuclear phase-out and its impact on neighbouring countriesCharlotte Loreck, Ökoinstitut, Germany
Petr Otčenášek, nuclear energy consultant, Czech Republic
Martin Bursík, ecologist, former minister of environment, Czech Republic