The Nuclear Retreat
We coined the term, "Nuclear Retreat" here at Beyond Nuclear to counter the nuclear industry's preposterous "nuclear renaissance" propaganda campaign. You've probably seen "Nuclear Retreat" picked up elsewhere and no wonder - the alleged nuclear revival so far looks more like a lot of running away. On this page we will keep tabs on every latest nuclear retreat as more and more proposed new nuclear programs are canceled.
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Moody's Investors Service downgraded utility Scana Corp. (SCG) to the brink of junk because of increased risk surrounding its large nuclear construction program, which is expected to be half-funded by debt. Scana (South Carolina Electirc & Gas) is building the AP1000 reactors at Summer in South Carolina.
From AFP: "The Swiss parliament's upper house on Wednesday approved plans to phase out the country's nuclear plants over the next two decades in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
It followed a June vote by the lower chamber to back an exit from nuclear energy recommended by the government, which had earlier frozen plans for a new construction programme after the Fukushima atomic plant explosion.
Bern said it would count on the development of its already considerable hydro-electric plants and other renewable energy to make up for the loss of nuclear power, while not ruling out importing electricity." Read the full article.
The German industrial and engineering conglomerate, Siemens, following on the heels of its government's decision to abandon nuclear energy, has withdrawn entirely from the nuclear industry. It will build no further nuclear plants and is canceling its nuclear joint venture with Russia's Rosatom. Siemens built all 17 of Germany's existing nuclear plants. Siemens chief executive, Peter Loescher, (pictured) praised the Merkel government's decision to close all its nuclear plants by 2022 and aim for an 80% to 100% renewable energy economy by 2050, calling it "a project of the century."
A nuclear industry trade journal reports "Looming elections and upcoming energy reviews have thrown the prospect of a possible French nuclear retreat firmly into the spotlight, with recent progress on the country’s offshore wind plans only fueling speculation further."
The prolonged and deepening global financial crisis, rising nuclear power plant construction costs and a dramatic shift in public opinion following the nuclear catastrophe in Japan are brewing in a perfect storm for nuclear collapse in, of all places, Sarkozy's France.
In his May 12, 2011 report "Fukushima Fallout: Regulatory Loopholes at U.S. Nuclear Plants," U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) stated: "Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, many other countries have announced new safety measures with regards to nuclear reactors. China, Venezuela, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, and Taiwan have suspended new reactor development. Germany and Japan announced it would shut down older reactors pending safety review." The table also shows that the Phillipines and the U.K. have decided to reduce the role of nuclear power in their energy future. And in fact Germany, the fourth biggest national economy on the planet, has decided to completely phase out nuclear power by 2022. (see Table 1 on page 24).
September 29, 2011