"In 2003, MIT argued that nuclear power could play an important role in U.S. electricity generation, and that government help was needed to jumpstart a U.S. revival. That has yet to happen yet, the revised study notes.
Many of the challenges facing nuclear power are the same. Take economics. Building nuclear plants is still a lot more expensive than building coal- or gas-fired plants, and nuclear-generated electricity is still more expensive than either fossil-fuel option: 8.8 cents a kilowatt for nuclear versus 6.2 cents for coal and 6.5 cents for gas, MIT figures."
"An even bigger economic hurdle: lenders typically charge more to finance a nuclear plant than, say, a combined-cycle gas-fired power plant. That's because nuclear plants have a history of running behind schedule and facing cost overruns."
