The Nuclear Energy Institute is the trade organization that represents and lobbies for the nuclear industry in the United State. In their promotion of nuclear reactors they tend to emphasize the positive aspects and overlook or excuse many of the negative aspects. Recently, Marvin Fertel the NEI President and CEO gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of the NEI.
One of the main points of the address was that the rebounding U.S. economy will lead to an increase in electricity demand which will be filled by expanding the nuclear reactor fleet. There are ten applications for construction and operating licenses for new reactors currently being considered by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It will take years for these applications to work their way through the process and constructions won’t start for years if they are approved.
More near term, the NEI President highlighted current reactor construction projects in the U.S. Concrete is being poured at Plant Vogtle in Georgia for two new reactors that are already forty percent complete. It is the biggest construction project in Georgia and is responsible for thousands of jobs. Unfortunately for nuclear power boosters, this project has been plagued by delays, unexpected construction costs, law suits, safety concerns and demands by the owners for a hike in electrical rates to pay for the problems.
The NEI President also mentioned the new reactor being constructed at Plant Summer in South Carolina. He mentioned the size of the project and the new jobs but did not say much of anything about the almost ten percent increase in costs over the original estimates and the delays on the project.
Reactor projects in Florida have been delayed because of the cheaper electricity being generated by the cheaper natural gas power generation stations. A plant in Illinois has been slated for permanent closure because of the cheaper energy available.
The NEI President was trying to make an argument based on economics but that is a very shaky argument. As the above examples indicate, the cost of nuclear power is rising. And with the boom in fracking, the cost of electricity from natural gas is dropping. In addition, the cost of solar and wind power are also dropping. It is pretty obvious that these strictly economic facts argue against a bright future for nuclear power generation.
On top of that, the disaster at Fukushima aroused a lot of hostility around the world against nuclear power. Another earthquake has just created additional leaks at Fukushima. The spent nuclear fuel pool of Unit Four is teetering four stories in the air in a severely damaged building. Another quake could take it down at any time and spread more radiation around the world. The cores of reactors Two and Three at Fukushima that melted down are still hot and must be constantly cooled by water. TEPCO wants to dump some of that contaminated water into the ocean which will continue to increase the radioactivity of plankton and fish in the Pacific Ocean for decades at the least.
One more major disaster at Fukushima or anywhere in the world will increase the pressure to end the use of nuclear power worldwide. It will also reduce the availability of capital for investment in nuclear reactors. I am afraid that the future of nuclear energy is not as bright as the NEI President suggests.
Construction at Vogtle, image by Charles C Watson, Jr.:
