<
https://fortune.com/2023/07/28/no-new-nuclear-golden-age-just-old-industry-hands-trying-to-make-a-buck-energy-politics-stephanie-cooke/>
"Since the turn of the millennium, at least $50 billion has been spent on a
frantic effort to create a new Golden Age for nuclear energy in the U.S.
Billions more are being lavished on an even more desperate effort to launch
small reactors as supposedly safer, cheaper alternatives to yesteryear’s
elephant-sized versions. Most of the money comes from ratepayers and taxpayers,
accompanied by an avalanche of public relations that rivals the 1950s “Atoms
for Peace” campaign with its claims of “too cheap to meter” electricity.
So far, the effort has produced little in tangible assets: roughly one gigawatt
of capacity from the Watts Bar-2 reactor completed after decades of
on-and-off-again construction and the promise of 2 GW from the long-delayed
Plant Vogtle in Georgia. So far, not a single molecule of CO2 emissions has
been avoided by a new reactor, and the primary beneficiaries are not the people
who paid but publicly-owned utilities, reactor design companies, and PR and law
firms. They are part of a chorus of advocacy groups and government agencies,
led by the Department of Energy (DOE), advancing the idea that low-carbon
nuclear is essential to any long-term climate change solution.
The story is selling well but the push for more and more money—in direct
subsidies, ratepayer financing, and government grants or loans–has a dark side.
To cite just a few examples, former state officials and utility executives in
Illinois and Ohio face lengthy prison terms for bribery schemes linked to
subsidies for unprofitable nuclear plants. In South Carolina, two former Scana
executives received prison sentences after pleading guilty to criminal charges
in 2020 and 2021 over a nuclear project that ultimately collapsed. Two
Westinghouse executives also charged are facing a similar fate, with one still
awaiting trial in October.
When it comes to costs and schedules, the lack of honesty surrounding nuclear
projects is often breathtaking. In Georgia, where two Westinghouse reactors at
Vogtle have been under construction since 2009, only one is completed and is
now struggling to achieve commercial operation after multiple unplanned reactor
and turbine trips, according to recent Georgia Public Service Commission staff
testimony. That testimony also included allegations that utility executives
have been providing “materially inaccurate” cost estimates over the project’s
life. Vogtle’s estimated total $33 billion cost, as outlined in the testimony,
versus $13.3 billion originally estimated makes it the most expensive power
plant ever built in the United States. Most of the tab is being footed by
ratepayers, with the US taxpayer, via DOE, providing $12 billion in loans.
And still, the messaging that nuclear is a must for reducing emissions goes on
at a fever pitch. But the message is distorted: The industry cannot deliver
what is needed. The U.S. lost its industrial base, including heavy forging
capacity, decades ago–and the costs of a major nuclear buildout could now be in
the trillions."
The conservatives are pushing nuclear power pretty hard in Australia too. It
doesn’t make economic sense here either.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
