Richard Epstein on Nuclear Power

"The Road to Nuclear Hell," is the headline of libertarian law professor Richard Epstein's article on nuclear energy, published on the Web site of the Hoover Institution. The high cost of nuclear energy, he says, "is not a function of the construction costs of new nuclear facilities. It is a direct consequence of the grotesque permitting and regulatory structure that is put into place to supervise—make that guard against—the construction of new nuclear facilities in the United States." Since newer facilities tend to be safer than old ones, the regulatory delays and barriers actually make nuclear energy more risky than it needs to be, he writes.