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.
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Physicians for Social Responsibility has also produced a chart identifying the many reversals of fortune for the nuclear power industry since January 2008.
Dr. Mark Cooper presents a nuclear retreat chronology chart for the January 2008 through September 2009.
Confirming that new nuclear construction is hopelessly expensive and uneconomical as a business proposition, UniStar Nuclear Energy has backed further away from its proposed third reactor at Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Power Plant in New York after it failed to make the shortlist for federal loan guarantees. UniStar asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to "temporarily suspend" review of the company’s construction application, relegating the project to the ever growing nuclear dustpile for the time being. A company official said that without the federal loan guarantee, the company cannot invest in new nuclear energy projects at the same pace it planned, confirming that new nuclear plants will only be built on the backs of taxpayers.
A major shake up at Texas electric utility CPS Energy is being called for, after revelations that the company concealed the skyrocketing costs of two proposed new reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear power plant from investors such as the City of San Antonio itself. The two South Texas Advanced Boiling Water Reactors had been shortlisted by the Department of Energy for federal loan guarantees. During the summer of 2009, CPS consistently covered up the true costs of the project, insisting the price tag was $13 billion while reportedly knowing it was billions more, costs which would have been passed onto CPS ratepayers.
The seven French EPR reactors slated for the U.S. are now reduced to two—in Maryland and Pennsylvania—and the EPR is mired in cost overruns, safety scandals and delays at construction sites in Finland and France. Here is the current status of what was once a promised seven EPR reactors for six U.S. sites:
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/new-licensing-files/expected-new-rx-applications.pdf
December 14, 2009