Editing Energy development (section)

==== Fission economics ====
{{Main|Economics of nuclear power plants}}
[[File:Global public support for energy sources (Ipsos 2011).png|thumb|Low global public support for nuclear fission in the aftermath of Fukushima ([[Ipsos]]-survey, 2011)<ref name="Ipsos-Fukushima" />]]

The economics of new nuclear power plants is a controversial subject, since there are diverging views on this topic, and multibillion-dollar investments ride on the choice of an energy source. [[Nuclear power plant]]s typically have high capital costs for building the plant, but low direct fuel costs. In recent years there has been a slowdown of electricity demand growth and financing has become more difficult, which affects large projects such as nuclear reactors, with very large upfront costs and long project cycles which carry a large variety of risks.<ref name=kidd2011/> In Eastern Europe, a number of long-established projects are struggling to find finance, notably Belene in Bulgaria and the additional reactors at Cernavoda in Romania, and some potential backers have pulled out.<ref name=kidd2011>{{cite web|url=http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=147&storyCode=2058653 |title=New reactors—more or less? |author=Kidd, Steve |date=January 21, 2011 |work=Nuclear Engineering International |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212195417/http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=147&storyCode=2058653 |archive-date=2011-12-12 }}</ref> Where cheap gas is available and its future supply relatively secure, this also poses a major problem for nuclear projects.<ref name=kidd2011/>

Analysis of the economics of nuclear power must take into account who bears the risks of future uncertainties. To date all operating nuclear power plants were developed by [[Nationalized|state-owned]] or [[Regulated market|regulated]] [[Electric utility|utility monopolies]]<ref name="ft-20100912">{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad15fcfe-bc71-11df-a42b-00144feab49a.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ad15fcfe-bc71-11df-a42b-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |title=Nuclear: New dawn now seems limited to the east |author=Ed Crooks |newspaper=Financial Times |date=12 September 2010 |access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref><ref name="NERA-20120316">{{cite web|url=http://elliott.gwu.edu/assets/docs/events/kee-0312.pdf |title=Future of Nuclear Energy |author=Edward Kee |publisher=NERA Economic Consulting |date=16 March 2012 |access-date=2 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000713/http://elliott.gwu.edu/assets/docs/events/kee-0312.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> where many of the risks associated with construction costs, operating performance, fuel price, and other factors were borne by consumers rather than suppliers. Many countries have now liberalized the [[electricity market]] where these risks, and the risk of cheaper competitors emerging before capital costs are recovered, are borne by plant suppliers and operators rather than consumers, which leads to a significantly different evaluation of the economics of new nuclear power plants.<ref name="MIT-2003">{{Cite book |url=http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/ |title=The Future of Nuclear Power |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-615-12420-9 |access-date=2006-11-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518215841/http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/ |archive-date=2017-05-18 }}</ref>