Until deregulation, the idea that a nuclear reactor could be bought and sold like a slab of beef was unheard of. The first few sales were disappointing to the industry. Reactors were sold for not much more than the cost of their carpeting, indicating investors had little faith in their value. But in the last year or two, that has changed. Reactors are being sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Investors think they can make money in a deregulated market.
For a fossil fuel plant, most of the cost per kilowatt-hour lies in the fuel itself. But for a nuclear reactor, most of the cost lies in its capital investment. Since many reactors are already paid for, the rest is gravy for investors. So the market, which did not play much of a role in the nuclear industry in the past, has determined, at least for now, that nuclear reactors are gold mines. The second factor boosting nuclear power is the cost of natural gas, which in recent decades has been the nuclear industry's main competitor.