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Costs of Nuclear Power Plant Construction: Theory and New Evidence

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  • John M. Marshall
  • Peter Navarro

Abstract

Studies of the cost of construction of nuclear power plants rely upon a measure of cost, called "overnight cost," that contradicts accepted capital theory. The studies report evidence that construction cost per megawatt of capacity decreases as plant scale increases. We employ a more correct measure of cost and compare the results of this measure versus overnight cost for Japanese nuclear power plants. Using overnight cost, the results give "evidence" of economies of scale in Japanese power plants, but when the correct measure of cost is substituted, the scale variable is not statistically significant.

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  • John M. Marshall & Peter Navarro, 1991. "Costs of Nuclear Power Plant Construction: Theory and New Evidence," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(1), pages 148-154, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:randje:v:22:y:1991:i:spring:p:148-154
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    Cited by:

    1. Supawat Rungsuriyawiboon & Chris O'Donnell, 2004. "Curvature-Constrained Estimates of Technical Efficiency and Returns to Scale for U.S. Electric Utilities," CEPA Working Papers Series WP072004, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    2. Supawat Rungsuriyawiboon, 2004. "An Analysis of Cost Structures in the Electricity Generation Industry," CEPA Working Papers Series WP052004, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    3. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Gilbert, Alex & Nugent, Daniel, 2014. "Risk, innovation, electricity infrastructure and construction cost overruns: Testing six hypotheses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 906-917.
    4. Dismukes, David E. & Upton, Gregory B., 2015. "Economies of scale, learning effects and offshore wind development costs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 61-66.
    5. Sascha Samadi, 2016. "A Review of Factors Influencing the Cost Development of Electricity Generation Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-25, November.
    6. Lovering, Jessica R. & Yip, Arthur & Nordhaus, Ted, 2016. "Historical construction costs of global nuclear power reactors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 371-382.
    7. Koomey, Jonathan & Hultman, Nathan E., 2007. "A reactor-level analysis of busbar costs for US nuclear plants, 1970-2005," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5630-5642, November.
    8. del Sol, Felipe & Sauma, Enzo, 2013. "Economic impacts of installing solar power plants in northern Chile," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 489-498.
    9. Matsuo, Yuhji & Nei, Hisanori, 2019. "An analysis of the historical trends in nuclear power plant construction costs: The Japanese experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 180-198.

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