Nuclear Power
Komanoff's 1981 book, Power Plant Cost Escalation: Nuclear and Coal Capital Costs, Regulation and Economics
From page one of "PPCE": This book examines the upheaval in the economics of nuclear and coal electrical generation that occurred in the 1970s, and explores further changes likely in the next decade. It is the product of six years spent grappling with the economics of nuclear and coal power, the last three focusing on the costs of efforts to reduce the health, environmental, and societal hazards of electricity generation. The book investigates increases in nuclear and coal capital (construction) costs on three levels:
* an empirical level, through the first published statistical analysis of the actual construction costs of U.S. nuclear and coal-fired power plants completed throughout the 1970s;
* an engineering level, through an analysis of design and construction changes that contributed to past cost increases and those that can be anticipated to cause future increases;
* an etiological (underlying causal) level, through development of an hypothesis to explain the growth in regulatory standards that spurred the design changes which increased plant costs.
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PPCE's twelve chapters will take you on a fascinating journey to the heart of the 1970s-1980s debate over the economics -- and the future -- of nuclear power. We recommend you set your page size to 66% to best enjoy this pdf edition of the complete 325-page Power Plant Cost Escalation.
Executive Summary of 1992 Komanoff Energy Associates report for Greenpeace, "Fiscal Fission"
Complete 1992 KEA report for Greenpeace, "Fiscal Fission" (PDF)
Spreadsheet comparing federal subsidies for wind power and nuclear power.
Komanoff cover article in NY Review of Books, "Doing Without Nuclear Power" (this 3,750-word article assessing nuclear power's prospects after the Three Mile Island accident requires a subscription to the NY Review electronic edition, or a one-time purchase)
