When a nuclear power utility says one of its reactors is economically troubled and it may close early, should you believe it? For that matter, when a nuclear power utility says anything at all, should you believe it? Since the answer to the second question is almost always no, the answer to the first is…
Last week, CNBC ran a story sure to elevate the blood pressure of clean energy activists everywhere: No more nukes? How about another 80 years of them. The article discussed the hopes of some in the nuclear industry that reactors will be able to be re- re-licensed and operate for 80 years instead of the…
It should surprise absolutely no one that a utility that relies on dirty energy to make its money also plays dirty when its money is threatened or when a state legislature is considering whether to bail out the company with its constituents’ money. So don’t be surprised that we report that yes indeed, gasp, Exelon…
If there is one issue most Congressmembers would just as soon hammer nails into their heads as actually address meaningfully, it’s radioactive waste. It’s a no-win issue for most members: no one, including no one in their own districts, wants nuclear waste around. So their usual bet is to try to gang up on some…
Last week, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), a subdivision of sorts of the International Energy Agency, composed of the remaining true believers in nuclear power, released a report calling on the world to more than double the use of nuclear power by 2050. Titled Technology Roadmap 2015: Nuclear Power, the report argues that this vast…
Last weekend, as a report on Bloomberg put it, “President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed a breakthrough meant to spur a surge in civilian nuclear projects.” Bloomberg added, “Equipment suppliers are keeping the Champagne on ice.” In this case, the devil is in the details, and the fine print of the…
The two largest nuclear power utilities, Exelon and Entergy, aren’t the only ones looking for ratepayer bailouts for uneconomic power plants. Add Ohio’s FirstEnergy to the list, which is seeking subsidies that the Ohio Consumers Counsel puts at $3 Billion to keep its Davis-Besse reactor and some old, decrepit coal plants operating. The portion for…
Even after 30 years at NIRS, some days the news is just so appalling that it makes one want to scream. And some days, the actions of the U.S. government–regardless of who is in charge–are just wrong on so many levels that it makes one embarrassed to be an American. Today is one of those…
One reason that giant nuclear utilities like Exelon, Entergy, Duke and others are so aggressively taking extraordinary steps to force ratepayers to keep their obsolete, aging reactors operating at any cost is that these utilities have failed to adequately plan for the reality that reactors have a limited operational life and at some point will…
No matter how you look at it, 400,000 is a lot of people. It’s not the largest crowd I’ve ever been in: that was the nearly two million at President Obama’s first inauguration. Nor the largest demonstration: that was the million at the 1982 nuclear freeze march in New York City. And the 1970 Atlanta…