Nuclear Costs
Estimates for new reactor construction costs continue to sky-rocket. Conservative estimates range between $6 and $12 billion per reactor but Standard & Poor's predicts a continued rise. The nuclear power industry is lobbying for heavy federal subsidization including unlimited loan guarantees but the Congressional Budget Office predicts the risk of default will be well over 50 percent, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Beyond Nuclear opposes taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies for the nuclear energy industry.
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April 12, 2018Moody's: Let First Energy nuclear plants close
As reported by John Siciliano in the Washingtion Examiner:
The article reports:
The analysis doesn’t give any credence to a plan President Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry are considering to provide emergency relief to First Energy and its ailing coal and nuclear fleet.
It continues:
Moody’s doesn’t believe the closure of the three nuclear plants would have any effect on reliability or grid stability.
“Relative to PJM’s size, the three plants only comprised a little more than 2 percent of the grid operator’s generating capacity,” the analysis said. “We do not believe that it will have much effect on the energy market and so far we have not seen an uptick in the forward energy market.” The forward market feeds the day-to-day electricity needs on the grid.
FirstEnergy has "threatened" to permanently shutdown its Davis-Besse, OH atomic reactor in 2020, its Perry, OH atomic reactor in 2021, and its Beaver Valley Unit 1 & 2 atomic reactors in PA in 2021, unless it is massively bailed out by the federal Dept. of Energy, Regional Transmission Organization subisidies, or state regulatory "compensation."
Critics like Beyond Nuclear say "Please do." Shut the reactors down, that is. With just transitions in place for the workforce and host communities. And adequate funding and planning in place for comprehensive decommissioning, and irradiated nuclear fuel management in Hardened On-Site Storage, as close as safely possible to the generation site.