Cost of Alternatives

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft Integrated Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines for Ontario Power Generation’s New Nuclear Project at Wesleyville.

I am concerned that the Guidelines do not provide a cost comparison between nuclear power generation and other options for power generation, including estimates for the lifelong stewardship of the power generation waste products. For reference, the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2025 (https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/IMG/pdf/wnisr2025-v2.pdf), states:

“Two recent authoritative, comparative assessments of the Levelized Costs of Energy (LCOE), i.e., the costs per kilowatt-hour over the lifetime of a facility, show a clear advantage of solar and wind power generation over traditional competitors. In a detailed study for Germany, the Fraunhofer Institute concluded that in 2024, utility-scale PV [photovoltaic] plants in southern Germany could produce at US$c4.5/kWh, whereas small rooftop installations, delivering at the retail level, at US$c6.8/kWh. Compared at the retail level, PV rooftop electricity costs were lower than the costs of PV utility scale if distribution costs were added. Onshore wind power came in at US$c4.7/kWh for good locations. The lowest estimates for natural gas were US$c9.6/kWh, for lignite US$c16.4/kWh, for hard coal US$c18.8/kWh, and for nuclear US$c14.8–53/kWh. In the U.S., according to Lazard, LCOEs for onshore wind are at US$c3.7/kWh, for PV utility US$c3.8/kWh, for offshore wind US$c7/kWh, and for PV residential and commercial US$c8.1/kWh, while the lower end for U.S. nuclear was at US$c14.1/kWh (3.7 times as much as utility solar) and for gas peakers US$c14.9/kWh. With US$c3.4/kWh, purely operational costs for nuclear power plants are in the range of onshore wind and utility PV.” (Schneider, M. et. al., September 2025. The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2025, p. 37.)