Essays on the Economics of Licensing Nuclear Power Plants

Author: Cohen, Linda Rachel

Year: 1979

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Noll, Roger G.

Committee Member: Unknown, Unknown

Option: Social Science

DOI: 10.7907/5re1-yc90

Abstract

Essays on the Economics of Licensing Nuclear Power Plants concerns the regulation and licensing of nuclear power plants by the United States Atomic Energy Commission and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Chapter 1 contains an overview of the licensing process, and the issues raised in licensing cases. Based on a sample of plants licensed between 1967 and 1978, a statistical study of the impact of public participation in licensing is performed. The study concludes that public participation has had a major impact on licensing and power plant costs. The impact is due to a fundamental weakness of the Commissions : their inability to resolve certain issues related to acceptable social risk. The study has important policy implications for reforming the federal licensing process.

Chapters 2 and 3 address two of the issues raised in licensing. Chapter 2 contains an analysis of the Price-Anderson Act, a federal program for compensating victims of large nuclear accidents. The Price-Anderson Act is placed within the context of generalized federal disaster relief. A model is developed that allows an evaluation of compensation programs on the basis of moral hazard and equity principles.

Chapter 3 analyzes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's treatment of iis mandatory antitrust review of applicants for nuclear power plants. The main conclusion of the chapter is that the reviews have not addressed the central economic issues of antitrust that are relevant to nuclear power. Instead, the reviews contribute to further cartelization of the electric utility industry. While politically expedient, the reviews are counterproductive to the development of an optimal industry structure.

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