Britain is the most expensive place in the world to build nuclear power, a new government-backed report found.
A “systematic regulatory failure,” with multiple points of veto, has hamstrung the industry, the report said, and the oversight regime should be replaced.
Britain’s problem, although extreme, is not unusual. In the US and elsewhere, while costs of other forms of new energy have fallen, nuclear has become steadily more expensive, because of requirements that any savings made through technological improvements are reinvested in safety, meaning prices always ratchet up.
The problem has become urgent because many countries have pledged to triple their nuclear capacity by 2050 to provide reliable zero-carbon energy to smooth intermittent renewable output.
