The idea of the most expensive target on Earth might bring up genial picture of skyscrapers and prodigal construction ,   but a novel nuclear power plant in the U.K. is raise brow , withsomecalling it themost expensive single object on Earth .

So , how does it compare to other grammatical construction ?

Hinkley Point C nuclear big businessman post is expected to be $ 35.8 billion ( £ 24.5 billion )   to construct , according to theEuropean Commission , and when complete in 2023 , it will allow 3.3 gigawatts of electricity   –   7 percent of the U.K. ’s entire muscularity needs .

The plant will be build by French Power Company EDF , and it will be the first nuclear power plant in the U.K. in 30 years . But it ’s   significantly more costly than the previous one , Sizewell B , which was finish in 1995 at a price of only $ 6 billion ( £ 4.1 billion )   at today ’s cost .

To find some dead on target competition , we call for to see elsewhere such as the   prominent Hadron Collider ( LHC ) at CERN , which is the orotund simple machine in the public . The building of the LHC was about $ 4.75 billion , although if we let in the experiments   and the annual costs   of carry CERN , then the full cost so far is$13.25 billion , just over a third of Hinkley Point C.

If we are focus on successful scientific structures , the two LIGO facilities that discoveredgravitational wavesearlier this twelvemonth cost$620 million . You could build 57 of those with the same money that the Hinkley Point C power plant is going to cost .

But there are two constructions that have been more costly to the human raceway . The Gorgon liquefied natural petrol project currently being built in westerly Australia by Chevron is expected to cost$54 billionby the time it is end up .

And the most expensive single token ever   constructed is not on Earth at all , but orbiting over our heads . The International Space Station ( ISS ) is estimated to have cost more than$115   billion . Although the price rag is high , the technologies developed for distance end up being used on Earth , hence the interest from   the many land that footed the bill .

So , Hinkley Point C perhaps is n’t quite the most expensive project ever , but it is pricey , conduct to somecontroversysurrounding its expression . However , as engineering lecturer Dr. Ben Britton from Imperial College London explains to IFLScience , there are other factors to take into account for a project this expensive . " It   is worth elucidate   that for the first time for a atomic power plant build , the price of Hinkley Point C includes decommissioning and dissipation management costs , " he said .

( H / T : BBC News )