No. Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy (2011), and several reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have demonstrated that if we were to start building new nuclear plants today, then by the time we finish them (typically ~10 years later), solar energy will already cost less per kWh generated and sold:

solar will have reached grid parity, and will be competing dollar for dollar with nuclear and other energy sources. That will be 2020 in America, or 2017 in the EU, or 2015 in China. The Nuclear Energy Agency recently (JUNE 2012) quoted a cost of $5.86/W to construct new nuclear facilities in the Czech republic: that’s the same cost Ontarians would pay for solar PV, and is more than double what we’d pay for new wind energy, and more recent nuclear projects (Finland and the UK) are REPORTING substantial increases in cost due to new insurance premiums and other technical precautions that have become standard since Fukushima.

Even today, a comparison of building renewable energy based generators or new nuclear reactors found that renewables would be significantly less expensive than new nuclear: $0.135/ kWh on average for renewables vs. $0.19 - $0.37/ kWh for new nuclear. Every nuclear project in Ontario’s history has gone over schedule and over budget to an average of 250%, which is then paid by taxpayers. The nuclear industry also has hidden subsidies that support radioactive waste disposal and insurance. A Queen’s University study found that insurance costs are at least $33 million per nuclear plant per year. Nuclear plants can’t be built without heavy insurance, and especially since Fukushima, these costs are only going up. Ontarians are still paying for past nuclear cost overruns too, and these costs CONTINUE to burden future nuclear projects: We have collectively made over $19 billion in payments on the former Ontario Hydro’s “stranded debt” and still owe more than $14 billion more. The upgrades at the Bruce Nuclear Station have already burdened taxpayers $237.5 million in overrun costs, while also requiring major grid upgrades, which together are responsible for a significant portion of the recent electricity rate increases across the PROVINCE. Nuclear has never been cheap, and is only getting more expensive. Solar and other renewables are continually getting CHEAPER.

No. Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy (2011), and several reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have demonstrated that if we were to start building new nuclear plants today, then by the time we finish them (typically ~10 years later), solar energy will already cost less per kWh generated and sold:

solar will have reached grid parity, and will be competing dollar for dollar with nuclear and other energy sources. That will be 2020 in America, or 2017 in the EU, or 2015 in China. The Nuclear Energy Agency recently (June 2012) quoted a cost of $5.86/W to construct new nuclear facilities in the Czech republic: that’s the same cost Ontarians would pay for solar PV, and is more than double what we’d pay for new wind energy, and more recent nuclear projects (Finland and the UK) are reporting substantial increases in cost due to new insurance premiums and other technical precautions that have become standard since Fukushima.

Even today, a comparison of building renewable energy based generators or new nuclear reactors found that renewables would be significantly less expensive than new nuclear: $0.135/ kWh on average for renewables vs. $0.19 - $0.37/ kWh for new nuclear. Every nuclear project in Ontario’s history has gone over schedule and over budget to an average of 250%, which is then paid by taxpayers. The nuclear industry also has hidden subsidies that support radioactive waste disposal and insurance. A Queen’s University study found that insurance costs are at least $33 million per nuclear plant per year. Nuclear plants can’t be built without heavy insurance, and especially since Fukushima, these costs are only going up. Ontarians are still paying for past nuclear cost overruns too, and these costs continue to burden future nuclear projects: We have collectively made over $19 billion in payments on the former Ontario Hydro’s “stranded debt” and still owe more than $14 billion more. The upgrades at the Bruce Nuclear Station have already burdened taxpayers $237.5 million in overrun costs, while also requiring major grid upgrades, which together are responsible for a significant portion of the recent electricity rate increases across the province. Nuclear has never been cheap, and is only getting more expensive. Solar and other renewables are continually getting cheaper.