Nuclear power – Economics and public acceptance

Severe public acceptance problems do not obviously directly constrain nuclear construction in some countries, notably the United Kingdom and the United States. The major problem is the rising capital investment cost of new plants and the difficulties of structuring projects to cope with this. It is apparent, however, that a significant gap has also opened up between these costs in East and West. There are ways in which this gap can conceivably be narrowed and nuclear power's competitiveness issues addressed. Nevertheless, public acceptance issues are at least partly responsible for the underlying cost problem observable in the Western world. A variety of fact-based approaches have been used in the past which have experienced only a limited degree of success. Fresh ideas and approaches are now needed, taking more account of people's emotional make-up and how this can be influenced.