France’s EDF raises cost estimate for six reactors to 72.8 billion euros

11 comments

1. Laughable. You could build so much solar wind and storage for that same money. And have it online in a tenth of the time.

2. Reactors getting more expensive than planned? That’s gotta be a first /s

   > as it pledged to significantly improve both the cost efficiency and speed of their construction.

   Pledging to increase cost efficiency while increasing the price by 41% (with more cost increases to come, because there hasn’t been a single reactor been built where that wasn’t the case)? Cool story, bro.

3. This estimate is still much much lower than current project Hinkley Point C (2 blocks) that is already belated again for several years and billions and billions over target.

   https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/hinkley-point-c-nuclear-plant-31953940.amp

   „The updated estimate of £31-35 billion could see costs reach £46 billion in today’s prices“

   That‘s about 52 bln. €. Or 26 bln. € / reactor block.

   More than twice the ‚new estimate‘ of 12 bln. / reactor block that EDF „this time! promise! it will work out!!!“

   Don‘t forget: EDF‘s already building EPR 1600 nos. 5 and 6, and there has been zero learning curve!

4. >The new estimate, based on 2020 values, is significantly higher than the 51.7 billion euros when plans for the new reactors were first announced in 2022

   So for today’s money you should add almost 20 percent, making current estimate close to EUR 90B.

   Excluding inflation that is a whopping 40% cost increase in 3 years, and construction hasn’t even started yet.

5. If governments just mandated solar everywhere this would become faaaar less relevant

6. Better save that money for drones you will need to fight off Russia.

7. But all the SMR charlatans, er, promoters, er, credulous nitwits will say it’s proof SMR reactors will be even cheaper!

8. The folks pushing for new nuclear are surprisingly quiet on this post, interesting

9. So I figure we need we need about 10,000 nuclear power stations to replace all of our primary energy with nuclear electricity.

   So that would be about 100,000 billion euros. ie 100 trillion, ie 100% of our global GDP.

10. Tbf at what point in time has building nuclear been on budget.

    If you walk about this for the US people often look to France for closer to budget and faster build examples.

    I think last I looked the US was sitting at an average 15 year build time and in budgets that go way more over.

11. Think of how many solar panels you could install, with battery storage, for $72.8 Billion euros? It would also be far quicker and easier than installing and running reactors.

      This is lunacy.

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