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Re:Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Part II... by fweimer on Friday September 30, 2022 @05:13PM (#33040883)
EDF has recently been re-nationalized, and has always been under strong government influence. It's not a good example of a civilian/free market nuclear power plant operator.
Re:Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Part II... by franckl on Friday September 30, 2022 @05:52PM (#33041283)
Careful, the renationalization is due to a lot of factors, the main one is that the EU forced EDF to sell its nuclear eneegy at a loss to private energy providerd in order to "free the market". Look for ARENH if you would like to learn more (quick Google https://www.nusconsulting.com/energy-blog/arenh-reform-could...)
Re:Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Part II... by fweimer on Saturday October 01, 2022 @08:17AM (#33046049)
I didn't mean to imply that nationalization happened because nuclear power isn't commercially viable. The French situation was special even before full nationalization.

I really doubt ARENH is the problem because as far as I understand it, it only applies to EDF's existing nuclear power plants. At 42 EUR/MWh wholesale, those plants should still make a tidy profit. Apparently, too few of them were actually running last year, and the French government imposed further price restrictions that also affected resale of energy that EDF purchased elsewhere at market prices (not coming from EDF's own nuclear fleet or its other power plants).

Re:Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Part II... by dboreham on Friday September 30, 2022 @05:21PM (#33040963)
Electricity generation in the US isn't "under strong government influence"?
Re:Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Part II... by fweimer on Friday September 30, 2022 @05:32PM (#33041076)
I wasn't talking about regulation. EDF's relationship with the French government goes well beyond that.