Improving the Economics of Nuclear Power: Lessons Learned from the Korean Experience

A growing number of nuclear power plants throughout the United States face the prospect of premature shutdown and decommissioning, leading many to dismiss nuclear power as expensive and economically uncompetitive. However, many of the recent reactor shutdowns in the U.S. have been the result of market failures in deregulated electricity markets, and the rising costs of nuclear in the U.S. have largely been attributable to an uncertain regulatory environment, a failure to maximize on fixed costs, and other factors. Other countries' experiences with nuclear power–such as that of South Korea, which reduced the costs of nuclear-generated electricity over a span of several decades–corroborate that nuclear is not inherently cost-prohibitive.

Please join GABI and KEIA for a briefing on the fundamentals of nuclear power economics, the history of Korean civil nuclear development, and Korea's achievements in lowering nuclear costs and its emergence as a global nuclear vendor.

Thursday, October 6, 2016
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Rayburn House office Building B339
 

Jessica Lovering
Director of Energy
The Breakthrough Institute

Jiyong Oh
Manager
Korea Hydro Nuclear Power, Washington Office