Growing Recognition of the Worth of Nuclear Energy
 
By E. Ralph Hostetter
Oct 31, 2007

According to Resources for the Future, an independent research organization, these are the relative costs for the various types of power plants: Based on 2006 construction costs in Japan and Korea and estimates from vendors who would likely build plants in the United States, a new 1,000-megawatt (MW) nuclear plant would cost about $2 billion and take five years to build. By contrast, a new 1,000-MW pulverized coal plant would cost $1.2 billion and take three to four years to build.

A definite attraction to nuclear power, once built and paid for, is the extremely low cost of operation.