ABSTRACT
Nuclear power plants are costly and take a long time to build. Recently a plan to construct two coal-fired plants in Utah was dropped, because of high costs and objections to global warming. A recent study by the industry-based Electric Power Research Institute projects that coal power generation will cost more than nuclear power generation or a natural gas generating power plant by 2025, even if carbon dioxide emissions are reduced to the greatest extent experts envision. Another industry analysis expert predicts that wholesale electricity prices will rise 35 to 65 percent by the year 2015, if the U.S. congress introduces a bill for a strict ban on greenhouse effects or carbon-based pollutants. Construction and installation of nuclear power plant involve a capital investment of more than $3 billion and takes a minimum time of two to three years. In addition, the disposal and storage of radioactive waste presents a serious problem. Electrical power generating plants can also use natural gas, but natural gas is volatile in both supply and price.
