IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/engenv/v20y2009i3p375-385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nuclear Power Prospects in the USA: The Continuing Problem of the Waste Issue

Author

Listed:
  • Roger H. Bezdek

    (Management Information Services, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA)

Abstract

This paper addresses two questions concerning the economics and prospects for nuclear power in the USA: 1) What is the long term economic future of nuclear energy? 2) Is the inability to solve the nuclear waste issue a factor that will limit new nuclear plant development? With respect to the first question, we find that the long term economic future of nuclear energy is uncertain, at best. Despite recent interest in a “nuclear renaissance,†objective, rigorous studies have concluded that, at present, new nuclear power plants are not economically competitive with coal or natural gas for electricity generation and will not be for the foreseeable future. With respect to the second question, we find that the inability to solve the nuclear waste issue will likely limit new nuclear plant development. Nuclear waste disposal poses a serous, seemingly intractable problem for the future of nuclear power, and the waste issue could be a show stopper for new nuclear plants. Thus, while some new nuclear power plants will likely be built in the U.S. over the next two decades, a major “nuclear renaissance†is unlikely.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger H. Bezdek, 2009. "Nuclear Power Prospects in the USA: The Continuing Problem of the Waste Issue," Energy & Environment, , vol. 20(3), pages 375-385, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:375-385
    DOI: 10.1260/095830509788066385
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1260/095830509788066385
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1260/095830509788066385?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:375-385. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.