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Show Huclear Power Costs Match Goal -Steam Operating cosls for nu-cloar nu-cloar lower plan's and coal fired plants are now about: equal, according to a report from Commonwealth Common-wealth Kdison, 0f Chicago a firm which leads in' nuclear nu-clear orders. Nuclear generating cost? have risen more rapidly than those for foHwi'l-fuel-ed generation, until today the margin is relatively small in favor of nuclear power. ' Nuclear's principal ad-Vantage ad-Vantage lies in fuel costs, 'and improved efficiency is expected to lead to even 'lower costs despite anticipated antici-pated higher prices for u-raniurn u-raniurn concentrate. ' Commonwealth Edison's president, Wallace Behnke. 'said despite problems he be lieved the outlook for fossil fos-sil fuel remained good, and outlook's were hopeful that it would remain in a com pcWtive bracket with nuclear nu-clear fuel. He predicted that by 1980 fossil fuels would still account for n-hout n-hout 70 percent of all U. S. power generation, despite de-spite a mfclear capacity of between 150 and IfiO million mil-lion kilowatts by then. Construction time is a count against nuclear power; pow-er; efforts are being made to standardize plant construction con-struction to speed up licc-n-ing efforts. .In the power plant construction business, bus-iness, "Time is Money," Behnke said. |