Why does nuclear power plant construction cost so much?

Re:Why does nuclear power plant construction cost so much? by anovikov on Thursday June 15, 2023 @01:15AM (#36336687)

Negative learning by doing is very easy to explain: as you go, you realise many perils and dangers of this thing that you were not aware of in the beginning, and those result in a lot of safety precautions added in subsequent projects, increasing the costs.

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Re:Why does nuclear power plant construction cost so much? by thriftwy on Thursday June 15, 2023 @04:13AM (#36337710)

I can't imagine how TCO will not be much lower for subsequent ones, though.

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Re:Why does nuclear power plant construction cost so much? by Retric on Thursday June 15, 2023 @08:52AM (#36339741)

Redundancy generally costs more to maintain not less.

Aka design 1 has 500 pumps, design 2 has 600 and is safer but now there’s more equipment to main and more complex plumbing etc.

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Re:Why does nuclear power plant construction cost so much? by thriftwy on Friday June 16, 2023 @11:41AM (#36358507)

I begin to understand the logic behind the US derailings.

The idea here is that maintenance is much, much cheaper than rescue operations. If 100 more pumps let you run for years without a scram, go along and order them.

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Re:Why does nuclear power plant construction cost so much? by Retric on Saturday June 17, 2023 @03:57PM (#36373961)

That assumes it’s actually a benefit.

The point here is the “100 pumps” raise costs and complexity for zero benefit.

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