Swiss academies estimate new nuclear plant could cost CHF45 billion

Switzerland’s Academies of Sciences estimate that a new nuclear power plant could cost between CHF15 billion and CHF45 billion, SRF reported. The estimate is considerably higher than those in previous studies and includes financing costs.

Urs Neu, head of the Energy Commission of the Swiss Academies of Sciences, said financing costs add 20 to 30 percent to construction costs. Most other studies do not include the cost of raising capital, he said.

The lower estimate of CHF15 billion is roughly in line with what other studies consider realistic. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and energy company Axpo have also considered costs of around CHF8 billion possible, on the assumption that nuclear plants become cheaper with each new construction project.

However, the academies’ study does not rule out a cost of up to CHF45 billion based on previous experience. “Observed costs have risen from one power plant to the next. The industry, on the other hand, expects costs to fall from one power plant to the next,” Neu said.

The study also highlights the risk that the final cost could exceed the original estimate. The state would have to bear this risk, which the study puts in the tens of billions of francs. According to the academies, private investors worldwide have in recent years participated in such large projects only when the state assumed a substantial share of the risks.