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July 25, 2008 10:26:25 PM CDT

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New Nuke Plants May Break the Bank

Posted May 12, 08 2:16 PM CDT in US 

(Newser) – Nuclear power has come back into favor as a cleaner energy solution, but new plants aren’t going to be cheap, the Wall Street Journal reports. Despite efforts to streamline the process and cut costs, the next wave of reactors would cost $5-$12 billion each—prices that would likely translate to higher electricity bills, and a renewed debate on nuclear energy.

Much of the problem is bad luck. A streamlined licensing process and standardized designs should have led to cheaper plants, but stratospheric commodity costs have confounded those efforts. States are still rushing into nuclear, however, because of climate anxiety. “Nuclear power is popular, and that’s why it’s going to go ahead,” said one Florida advocate. “Our main concern is the tremendous cost.”

Source Wall Street Journal

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Surf rolls up on the beach in front the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in this Nov. 12, 1996, file photo, at the San Onofre State Park in Southern Calif.   (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, file)
Part of the facility for the treatment of nuclear waste is seen through a thick glass window at the Areva Nuclear plant of La Hague, near Cherbourg, western France, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant are reflected in the Susquehanna River in this Nov. 2, 2006 file photo.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, file)
Lights from a passing tractor trailer streak in the foreground, as wispy puffs of steam rise from the cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pa.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, file)
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