The cost ranges of all the advanced technologies (i.e., SPS, terrestrial photovoltaic, and fusion) appear to be approximately the same, but, given the large uncertainties and judgments about each of these technologies, no conclusion can be made regarding the viability of one relative to another. The cost drivers of each of these technologies have been defined, but it is difficult to come up with uncertainty bounds around each of the cost drivers. More detailed design and cost evaluation studies would be required on each of these advanced technologies to determine relative economic viability. Health & Safety. The satellite power system offers no overall health and safety advantages over the conventional technologies. The problems are more defined and the status of public knowledge is greater for the conventional technologies, but the problems that are still undefined for these technologies are no closer to solutions than those of the SPS, and uncertainty in such risks can only be quantified by long-term study. The problem of determining the risks associated with low-level human exposure to microwave radiation (specific to SPS) is similar to the problem of determining risk from low-level ionizing radiation (specific to nuclear) or air pollution (specific to coal). The difficult task in studying these areas is to develop impact analyses at low levels, and each will probably take years of careful research to determine the true impact. If the concern with health and safety continues, the effect on SPS can be expected to be similar to that on coal and nuclear technologies. Terrestrial photovoltaics and fusion may offer fewer public health and safety problems and long-term undefined risks than do the conventional technologies and SPS. With the exception of the tritium problem for fusion, the risks now associated with these two technologies appear to be less than the risks from the low-level radiation or air pollution problems associated with the other technologies. Therefore, terrestrial photovoltaic and fusion may not be as restricted by hazards that cannot be quantified within the period of technology implementation. Environmental Welfare. Each technology has a different set of environmental welfare problems. Among these, the climatological impacts of increased CO2 levels have the greatest catastrophic potential, but it must be pointed out that electricity production from coal causes only a small part of the CO2 problem. The microwave problems resulting from implementation of the SPS system will take many years to solve, and the viability of a solution may not be known until after a system is built and operated. Resources (Land, Materials, Energy, Water, Labor). The biggest issue in this area is the consumption of large contiguous land areas by the SPS and terrestrial photovoltaic systems. The terrestrial photovoltaic systems are designed in smaller capacity levels, i.e., 200 MW, so that large contiguous blocks of land would not be required for siting. However, the overall land use is approximately the same as that of the SPS. If the SPS is designed in smaller sizes (less than 5 GW), the need for large contiguous land areas may not be as severe a problem, but overall land consumption will probably be a continuing concern.
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