[HN Gopher] Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Pa...
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       Why are nuclear power construction costs so high? Part II
        
       Author : jseliger
       Score  : 10 points
       Date   : 2022-06-25 17:31 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (constructionphysics.substack.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (constructionphysics.substack.com)
        
       | tomohawk wrote:
       | > an analysis of cost overruns of the David-Besse power plant,
       | which was budgeted at $136 million at the start of construction
       | in 1967, and ultimately cost $650 million when completed in 1977,
       | found that "NRC modifications and their chain effects" were
       | responsible for over 60% of the total cost. By contrast, the
       | lower construction costs of French plants during the same period
       | have been attributed to a "lack of changes during construction."
       | 
       | And it hasn't gotten any better since 1977.
        
         | daniel-cussen wrote:
         | Well part of it is the nuclear industry was started by total
         | geniuses like Oppenheimer, von Neumann, Szilard, and Bohr. So
         | now you have to pass the baton to lesser geniuses, or ordinary
         | everyday Americans who eg were on Navy submarines, and want to
         | work civilian (with clearance, it's semi-civilian). There's a
         | bit of an impedance mismatch right there, Hungarian genius
         | mathematicians to apple-pie-eating American whites--generally
         | men because of the radiation--who like, they're smart, they're
         | gifted, but they're not monstrosities of raw intellect.
        
       | jseliger wrote:
       | Part I: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31682361
        
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       (page generated 2022-06-25 23:01 UTC)