To the Editor:

Nuclear power is a bad idea, but I will focus on just one reason—Cost. Governor Hochul wants to build 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power in Upstate NY, with at least one reactor in the North Country. The estimated cost per reactor is $20 billion.  In addition, the Boston Consulting Group stated in a study for the NYPA that 100% plus cost overruns are common with nuclear builds. Who pays for this? You and I do. 

Investing in nuclear plants is risky. Dr. Gregory Jaczko,  former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that in the mid-2000s, industry promised tens of new reactors. Congress provided massive subsidies but, in the end, only two were built, in Georgia. They were expected to cost about $14 billion, but ran into significant delays and cost over $35 billion. In the last 50 years, 120 reactors in the planning or construction phases have been cancelled. 

The corporations who build nuclear reactors do not even consider footing the huge upfront cost, so this is where you and I come in. To entice corporations to build nuclear plants, the government—federal and/or state, subsidizes them and guarantees low-cost loans. These are financed with taxpayer dollars. 

Previously, utilities couldn’t charge customers for a power plant until it was actively generating electricity. Now utilities can use a mechanism called Advanced Cost Recovery, where a surcharge is added to your bill while the plant is being built. In the Georgia example referred to above, consumers were paying a surcharge for over a decade before the units generated a single megawatt.

Googling the cost of various sources of energy, you can find a chart with a range of low and high estimates. Below are average costs per MegaWatt/hour from statista.com .

Gas plants—$200 

US nuclear power—$180

Offshore wind—$113 

Onshore wind—$62

Solar with battery storage—$58. 

Nuclear costs approximately three times more than solar or wind. The old argument is that “the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow” but that’s where batteries come in. There have been huge strides in battery technology— all Apple facilities around the world are powered with 100% renewables.

Very wealthy people and corporations are pushing nuclear power. They sound smart, but what they don’t say is that they will be making all the profit, and you and I will be taking all the risks.

Paul Petroccione

Canton