In February 2011, just weeks before the beginning of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis, American-based research group The Union of Concerned Scientist (UCS) released Nuclear Power: Still Not Viable Without Subsidies, a report on subsidies to nuclear power in United States, prepared by Doug Koplow, founder of subsidy consultancy Earth Track.

The report lists the full range of subsidies that have been supporting the American nuclear power sector, drawing on a broad review of historical studies, program assessments, industry statements and presentations, as well as government documents. It groups nuclear subsidies by type of plant ownership (public or private), timeframe of support (whether the subsidy is ongoing or has expired), and the specific attribute of nuclear power production the subsidy is intended to support, such as subsidies for land use or waste management.

The research reveals that the nuclear-power industry continues to benefit from more than 30 preferential government subsidies across every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, despite claims since its inception that it will soon require no further government support.

The most significant subsidies were identified as having four principal objectives: to reduce the cost of capital, labor and land through loan guarantees and tax incentives; to mask the true costs of producing nuclear energy through subsidies to uranium mining and water usage; to shift security and accident risks to the public; and to shift long-term operating risks to the public, such as the storage of radioactive waste. In this way, many subsidies do not even involve cash payments and, according to the report, these hidden subsidies distort market choices and without them investors would favor less risky investments.

The report concludes that the subsidies have often exceeded the average market price of the power produced and that choices about U.S. energy policy must be made with a full understanding of nuclear power’s full costs. It puts forward a number of policy recommendations, among which are reducing subsidies to the nuclear power industry and awarding subsidies to low-carbon energy sources on the basis of a competitive bidding process across all competing technologies.

According to the UCS, the Obama administration’s proposed budget would provide US$ 36 billion in federal loan guarantees for new reactor constructions, bringing the total amount of nuclear loan guarantees to US$ 58.5 billion. This increased support would “shift even more costs and risks from the industry to taxpayers and ratepayers,” they stated.

Nuclear Power: Still Not Viable Without Subsidies is available at the Union of Concerned Scientists' website.