How many nuclear power plants would we have to build to power the entire country?

Question

And could it be done in theory, if not in practice?
If not in practice, is it because they're so expensive? I've read that they cost like 5 billion bucks per plant

Answer 1

France has just about met your goal, since 90% of their electrical power requirements are met by nuclear plants.

Answer 2

The US has just over 100 plants that provide ~20% of our electricity so we would need ~400 more plants.

Oh, and the cost these days is $1000 - $2000 per kW. So to build a plant with 4 reactors(1 gigawatt each) would cost $4-8billion.

Answer 3

The total generating capacity in the US is about a terawatt, so a thousand gigawatt-sized plants (not uncommon) would be needed. Of course, doing all of these at the same time would be a huge undertaking, as well as unnecessary as some plants are already nuclear, or renewable (such as hydroelectric). Nuclear plants are costly, as considerable money must be spent on safety-related issues.

Answer 4

By the time all the plants would be constructed, our electrical energy demand is expected to increase by 45% so i would say you would need to start building around 600 plants to meet the demand.

Answer 5

it depends in the country you are living in if it has low or high population .they are expansive considering construction and funding for fuel and engineers and maintains and security after 9/11.they have diff rent costs which depends on their purpose