Correcting costs of nuclear power

My June 3 letter to the editor about nuclear power contained two errors. These errors stemmed from a too cursory reading of an article about planned nuclear power plants. The half trillion dollar figure I mentioned refers to the construction cost of the next generation of nuclear power plants, and not for adding for 2 gigawatts of power (2,000 megawatts).

The good news is my comparison of nuclear power to solar power was also incorrect. It turns out a more realistic cost for nuclear power construction is $10 per watt installed. Solar electric systems range from $6 to $10 depending on the size of the system and the method of installation. Because of economies of scale, small 2 kW residential systems are in the $10 per watt figure but large residential and smaller commercial systems are typically $7 per watt and large roof-mounted commercial systems approach $6 per watt.

So, already solar power beats nuclear power in terms of up front costs. When one also considers the price of nuclear fuel and the environmental hazards of nuclear fuel production and spent fuel, there is no contest.

Distributed solar power in urban locations is our best choice for future energy needs.

Eric Teegarden