Investment risk for energy highest for nuclear plants, lowest for solar

- A new study by the University of Oxford and others quantifies "investment risk" for different energy sources — meaning the chance that investors will lose money due to cost overruns, delays, or market shifts, not the physical safety risk of the technology itself. - Nuclear power shows the highest investment risk, driven by decades-long construction timelines, frequent budget blowouts, and cost inflation. Solar power ranks lowest, largely because projects are modular (built in small units), quick to deploy, and have seen rapid technological cost declines. - The study uses data from thousands of real-world energy projects built globally since the 1950s. It challenges assumptions that nuclear's low operating cost and long lifetime offset its upfront risks, and reinforces a growing consensus in energy economics that renewable energy is not only cheaper but also financially safer for investors.