Costly delays, growing complexity and new safety requirements in the wake of the three meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 plant are conspiring to thwart a new age of nuclear reactor construction.
So-called generation III+ reactors were supposed to have simpler designs and safety features to avoid the kind of disaster seen in Fukushima almost six years ago. With their development, the industry heralded the dawn of a new era of cheaper, easier-to-build plants.
Instead, the new reactors are running afoul of tighter regulations and unfamiliar designs, delaying completions and raising questions on whether the breakthroughs are too complex and expensive to be realized without state aid. The developments have left the industry's pioneers, including Areva SA and Westinghouse Electric Co., struggling to complete long-delayed projects while construction elsewhere gains pace.