I have stated in previous blogs that when you consider all the different factors such as economic, political, social, technological, public health and environmental, it is obvious that nuclear energy is not a good way to produce electricity. I have often said that the only reason nuclear power is still being discussed as a viable power source is because there is so much money involved in their construction and operation. The nuclear industry has been very successful at offloading liabilities and pocketing profits with the help of a bought and paid for Congress and an industry friendly Nuclear Regulatory Agency.
In South Carolina, the state regulatory agency has allowed the company constructing two new nuclear reactors to pass the cost overruns along to the utility customers even though the unfinished plants have generated no electricity. Some states such as Florida have or had laws on the books that would allow nuclear power companies to charge their customers for the construction costs of nuclear power plants that were never completed and never generated electricity.
If the company building new reactors in Georgia happens to go bankrupt, Congress has given them generous loan guarantees which means that the construction costs of the abandon reactor projects will be passed along to the U.S. taxpayers.
If there should happen to be a major nuclear accident in the U.S. as serious as the March 11, 2013 disaster at Fukushima, the companies responsible are insulated from responsibility for the billions of dollars that the accident will ultimately cost. The Price-Anderson Act requires that each operating nuclear power plant purchase the maximum insurance that is available which is three hundred and seventy five million dollars. Beyond that, if an accident occurs at nuclear plant and the costs exceed the insurance, power plant owners are obligated to pay one hundred and twenty one million dollars into a national fund that will be used to pay for additional costs of the accident. If the cost of an accident exceeds the four hundred and ninety million dollars from the insurance coverage and the extra money from the nuclear power operator, then the Congress can require additional money from the nuclear power operator. If the cost of an accident exceeds the ability of a company to pay, then the U.S. taxpayer will pay the additional cost.
In 2013, four out of the one hundred and four U.S. power reactors were shut down for a variety of reasons including being too expensive to repair or being uncompetitive in the energy market. Activists are calling for the last nuclear power plant in California to be shut down. Most of the remaining nuclear power reactors in the U.S. are reaching the end of their licensed life spans. More will be shut down because they will be too expensive to repair or uncompetitive.
Russia, China, France and Japan are moving aggressively to make nuclear technology exports a major component of their international trade. Russia and China are committed to building dozens of new reactors in the near future. Fortunately, for all the problems that the U.S. has with nuclear power, embarking on a major building and exporting program for nuclear reactors is not one of them. The electricity supplied by nuclear reactors in the U.S. can and should be replaced by renewables and conservation as soon as possible. In any case, I am sure that the U.S. taxpayer will still wind up paying dearly for our use of nuclear power.
Asteroid Belt (white dots):
