Nuclear renaissance (what renaissance?) continues to crash and burn

Anti-nuclear activists can be forgiven for launching into a chorus of "na na hey hey" today as another new U.S. reactor project bites the dust. The latest Nuclear Retreat comes from Constellation Energy which has ditched plans for a third reactor in Maryland at the Calvert Cliffs site. Constellation was looking at a $880 million price tag even with a federal loan guarantee from the Obama administration. Constellation's withdrawal is another blow for its French partner, EDF, already struggling with its reactor project on the French Normandy coast which is over-budget, behind schedule and beset with technical problems. It also deals a further blow to Areva whose flagship EPR reactor was destined for Calvert Cliffs. Beyond Nuclear also released a press statement on the Constellation decision.

Update on October 12, 2010 by admin

Here's what Peter Bradford (former NRC commissioner) and Harvey Wasserman have to say about the latest nuclear retreat.

Update on October 12, 2010 by admin

See the latest article, in the New York Times, on the nuclear retreat.  Despite the article's title that a sluggish economy is to blame, the article actually contends that a slump in electricity demand, along with nuclear power's inherent economic risks, is the cause. 

Update on October 16, 2010 by admin

And read Maryland PIRG state director, Johanna Neumann's op-ed in the Baltimore Sun on EDF's attempts to keep the project alive.