Estimating Externalities of Nuclear Fuel Cycles. Report Number 8 on the External Costs and Benefits of Fuel Cycles

摘要

This report, and that of our colleagues in Europe, are the most detailed studies ever done on the externalities of nuclear fuel cycles. These externalities are effects on the welfare of third parties, that producers and consumers do not explicitly take into account in their decisions to produce and consume electricity from nuclear power plants. Many externalities, such as those associated with human health and ecological impacts, do not have a market. They are not exchanged using money. We nevertheless measure them in economic terms because empirical evidence on the risks that individuals voluntarily take, and on their use of their time and income, provide information for estimating the economic value of these impacts. Also, economic experiments directly provide information about individuals willingness to spend part of their income to avoid different types of undesirable damages.