Nuclear has massive government subsidies. Most notably, construction contracts are structured such that cost overruns are borne by tax payers, not the builder. Also, clean up costs are covered by the tax payer.
> Also, clean up costs are covered by the tax payer.
Maybe you can provide a link.
Because here in the US that's not the case. For the Three Mile Island meltdown, the cleanup cost was about $1 billion, and the vast majority was born by the private corporations, not by the public. Here's a GAO quote [1]
During the period 1979 through 1981, five federal agencies committed $275 million for TMI related matters, but very little of this money had been used to directly offset cleanup expenditures. However, the current Administration commitment of $123 million for data acquisition and research and development could directly offset as much as $54 million of GPU-budgeted expenditures. Other reductions have occurred or are expected to occur as a result of Department of Energy involvement.
> Because here in the US that's not the case. For the Three Mile Island meltdown, the cleanup cost was about $1 billion, and the vast majority was born by the private corporations, not by the public.
That's called holding private corporations accountable for negligently contaminating the environment. There's a difference between the government paying to decom a well-run plant after 40-50 years, and sticking the taxpayer with cleaning up a mess that's not the public's responsibility.
That's all well and good except there's a nearly-zero number of nuclear plants being built. Which means there's a nearly-zero number of subsidies. You don't get in the business of building Widget X for the tax credits when nobody is asking for Widget X and Widget Y also gets tax credits and is being cranked out everywhere you look.
Don't forget that many nuclear plants have a guaranteed electricity price and demand.
Basically, if a nuke plant wants to operate, other plants will have to shut down to let them. And if the electricity price on the free market is below their guarantee, the government will pay the difference.