Nuclear Power: The Market Test. Worldwatch Paper 57.

Nuclear power was considered vital to humanity's future until just a short time ago. Since the late seventies, economic viability has joined a list of such issues as waste disposal and radiation hazards which call into question the future of nuclear power. This document discusses (in separate sections): (1) the selling of nuclear power, including worldwide nuclear power commitments; (2) costs, including annual rate increases for nuclear construction; (3) explanations for the rising cost of nuclear power, examining such issues as mismanagement, nuclear power plant sizes, design flaws in early plants that required costly correction, and earthquake resistance; (4) decline of nuclear power programs in the United States; (5) international outlook on nuclear power development; and (6) other issues and problems. It is pointed out in the last section that the economic failings of nuclear power suggest the need for several major policy changes, including a more balanced approach in energy research and development which nuclear power has dominated in most industrial countries since the fifties. (JN)