Publications

August 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Accounting for Nuclear Power Provisions at RWE

By: Paul Healy and Jonas Heese

In early 2016, RWE, a utility that operates nuclear power plants in Germany, came under scrutiny from regulators and the media over the adequacy of its provisions for costs of decommissioning and dismantling (D&D) its nuclear power plants. Accounting standards required... View Details

Keywords: Liabilities; Provisions For Long-term Obligations; Discounting; Accounting; Energy Generation; Energy Industry; Germany

07 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Obama’s Clean Power Plan: Can Nuclear Power Beat the Global Threat of Coal?

offers incentives - in the form of credits or allowances - for states that either meet their goals early or exceed the reduction requirements. Nuclear power plays a role in the Clean View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

February 2016 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Nuclear Energy: An Answer to Climate Change?

By: Michael W. Toffel, Glen W. S. Dowell and James Weber

Environmental activist groups have traditionally opposed nuclear energy. However, the growing environmental problems associated with global climate change require major changes to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity generation. Should environmental groups... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Power; Climate Change; Safety; Activism; Nonprofit; Environment; Environmental Protection; Social Movements; Energy; Energy Generation; Environmental Sustainability; Non-Governmental Organizations; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

Lassiter argues that the world needs to get nuclear power back into the race against fossil fuels in order to avoid significant levels of CO2 emission-driven climate change. The world’s energy experts forecast that CO2 emissions will increase for the foreseeable... View Details

07 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

the effects of rapid climate change. Less typically, he's more bullish on nuclear power and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," than he is on solar energy or wind power for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

16 Oct 2013
Op-Ed

Response to Readers: Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

With more than 7,500 views and 180-plus tweets, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read the original HBS Working Knowledge piece, The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and... View Details

Keywords: by Joe Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

07 Oct 2013
News

Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

Keywords: Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

February 2012
Case

Hyperion Power Module: Downsizing the Nuclear Renaissance?

By: Dennis Yao and Britta Kelley

Keywords: Energy Industry

December 2017
Teaching Note

Accounting for Nuclear Power Provisions at RWE

By: Jonas Heese

Teaching Note for HBS No. 118-013. View Details

Keywords: Liabilities; Discounting; Provisions For Long-term Obligations

2018
Report

The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World: An Interdisciplinary MIT Study

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World study is the eighth in the MIT Energy Initiative’s "Future of" series, which aims to shed light on a range of complex and important issues involving energy and the environment. A central theme is... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Carbon Emissions; Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Energy; Energy Policy; Energy Sources

Read Now

24 Apr 2014
News

The power to change nuclear waste into cost-efficient energy

overwhelmed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Although Wilcox did not know it at the time, that disaster would lead him to his next business—Transatomic Power—which he hopes will transform the... View Details

March 2019
Supplement

Accounting for Nuclear Power Provisions at RWE, Instructor Spreadsheet

By: Jonas Heese

02 Nov 2012
News

E Ink Founder's Startup Goal: Power The World With Efficient Nuclear Power

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

March 2019
Supplement

Accounting for Nuclear Power Provisions at RWE, Student Spreadsheet

By: Jonas Heese

1985
Other Unpublished Work

The Shorham Nuclear Power Plant (A)- HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Energy; Management; Energy Industry; New York (state, US)

September 2011 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Duke Energy and the Nuclear Renaissance

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Forest L. Reinhardt

Duke Energy, an American investor-owned electric utility, confronts multibillion dollar decisions about its future fuel mix. In particular, its leaders are considering building new nuclear capacity. Whether this is sensible depends, among other things, on demand... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Policy; Business Strategy; Energy Sources; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United States

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

We Need a Miracle. New Nuclear Might Provide it.

have US levels of electricity available at affordable prices for every person on the planet for a thousand years? I expect that miracle comes in the form of "New Nuclear" power plants—not the traditional View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

24 Sep 2014
News

We Need a Miracle. New Nuclear Might Provide it.

October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

NuScale Power—the Future of Small Modular Reactors

By: Richard Vietor

NuScale Power, an entrepreneurial venture in Portland, Oregon, has designed the leading modular nuclear reactor in the United States. This Reactor will be the safest and simplest ever built. Started in 2007 as an entrepreneurial venture, the company is now two years... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear; Power; Technology; Risk; Energy; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Risk and Uncertainty; Energy Industry