Nuclear Reactors 536 - NextEra Energy Is Suing The Nuclear Energy Institute - Part 1 of 2 Parts
Part 1 of 2 Parts
The U.S. nuclear industry has been struggling for years. Existing nuclear power plants have to contend with rising maintenance costs and new safety requirements. One new nuclear reactor project in South Carolina has already been cancelled due to mismanagement and huge cost overruns. A second new nuclear reactor project in Georgia is in serious trouble but is proceeding.
The National Energy Institute (NEI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that supports the global nuclear energy industry. It currently has three hundred members in seventeen countries. Its website says that the mission of the NEI is “to foster the beneficial uses of nuclear technology before Congress, the White House and executive branch agencies, federal regulators, and state policy forums; proactively communicate accurate and timely information; and provide a unified industry voice on the global importance of nuclear energy and nuclear technology. NEI’s objective is to ensure the formation of policies that promote the beneficial uses of nuclear energy and technologies in the United States and around the world.”
In the mid-1990s, U.S. nuclear power plant operators collaborated in standardizing the processing nuclear plant workers by creating the Personnel Access Data System (PADS). The PADS is a repository for authorization records for nuclear workers. The purpose of the PADS is to support safety and security in commercial nuclear power facilities. This database is critical in advance of scheduled plant shutdowns when the number of authorized workers at a nuclear facility may double. The PADS is maintained by the NEI.
NextEra Energy (NEE) is a for-profit utility company located and operated in the U.S. It is the biggest utility company in the world. NEE owns and operates one nuclear power reactor at the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, two nuclear power reactors at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Wisconsin, and one nuclear power reactor Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant. In addition, NextEra is the parent company of Florida Power and Light which is the third largest utility in the world. It owns and operates two nuclear power reactors at the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station in Florida and two nuclear power reactors at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant in Florida.
Last year, Rick Perry, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, put forward a proposal for special subsidies for the nuclear and coal industries. NEI decided to publicly support the Perry proposal in its “new agenda” for the U.S. energy industry. The U.S. energy industry strongly opposed the Perry proposal, saying that it would hurt the industry and reduce investment in alternative sources of energy. In early January of 2018, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the Perry proposal.
In January of 2018, NEE companies withdrew from NEI membership. The reason given was the NEI “new agenda” that included the rejected Perry proposal. NEE also said that the NEI was supporting studies that were aimed at building support for nuclear energy which would have the effect of reducing support for alternative sources of energy. NEE said that the changes in U.S. energy policy advocated by the NEI were “bad energy policy” and might harm NEE profits.
Please read Part 2
