Maine Yankee's owners also indicated they would no longer pay taxes into the local economy. Not many small communities can absorb that amount of change. In fact, Maine Yankee will disappear completely from the tax base in 2004, the date set for decommissioning and removal. Similarly, in other instances where nuclear plants were built in rural areas and local service communities sprung up to support them, the news is not good. To determine the overall economic impact of an industry, we need to consider direct and indirect costs.
Economists generally use two approaches to such economic evaluations.
The first is an industry model that measures direct costs and expenses, as well as profits and losses. The second is a Department of Commerce model, which assesses the trickle-down impact of the industry on the national economy. The advantage of the Department of Commerce model is that it gives a comprehensive view of the real impact of the industry in dollars, using Standard Industrial Classifications codes. Although this model is speedy and more flexible than an industry model, some researchers doubt its accuracy. It is possible, using this model, to overestimate or underestimate the overall economic impact of a specific industry.