Cooper: Duke abandonment of Levy reactors fits into 2013 pattern of "rapid-fire downsizing" of nuclear power in U.S.

Mark Cooper of Vermont Law School's Institute for Energy and the EnvironmentEnergy economist Mark Cooper at Vermont Law School's Institute for Energy and the Environment has issued a media statement in response to Duke/Progess's announced abandonment of its proposal to build two new atomic reactors at Levy County, Florida.

Cooper's statement begins:

"The announcement by Duke that it is abandoning the Levy reactor project in Florida is the second such announcement by that utility in the space of just a few weeks. The Duke decision to pull the plug on Levy follows by just one day the announcement that the French-subsidized nuclear giant EDF is pulling out of the U.S. nuclear power market due to the inability of nuclear power to compete with alternatives and the dramatic reduction in demand growth caused by increasing efficiency of electricity consuming devices. Exelon, with the largest U.S. nuclear fleet, recently purchased the nuclear assets of Constellation in an effort to achieve synergies (i.e. lower the operating costs) of its nuclear assets. Entergy, the second largest nuclear operator, has reorganized its nuclear assets and is slashing staffing..."

On July 17th, Cooper published a report, "Renaissance in Reverse," documenting the likelihood that up to 38 atomic reactors nationwide would "retire early," before the expiration of their operating licenses, including a dozen at risk of near-term permanent shutdown, due to an array of economic, operational, and safety factors.