The U.S. nuclear industry is facing stiff competition from cheap natural gas generated by the fracking boom. Several nuclear power plants have already been shut down prematurely because they could not compete. Half a dozen more plants may have to be shut down prematurely in the next five years for the same reason.
Russia held its Ninth AtomExpo International Forum in Moscow this week. The annual nuclear trade show is billed as the “largest exhibition venue for meetings and negotiations between world leaders of the nuclear power sector.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DMFSB) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government. The Board was created in 1988 to oversee the nuclear weapons complex administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Nuclear power in the United States is in trouble. The U.S. currently has ninety nine operational nuclear power plants that supply about twenty percent of the electricity in the U.S. Many of the plants are approaching or have passed their original licensed life-span of forty years. Five plants have closed in the last four years. Six more plants are scheduled to close in the next five years.
