By John LaForge, Nukewatch staff Cover story, CounterPunch magazine, March 2014, Vol. 21. No. 2, pp. 10-14
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- Federal regulator says we may not need one new reactor
- General Electric CEO: ‘today ... never do nuclear’
- Nucl € ar w Ұ a $ te of bil₤ion $
Renewable clean power production in the US crossed a major milestone in January 2011, exceeding the amount of electricity generated by nuclear reactors. A monthly report published by the US Energy Information Administration, a research group within the US Energy Department, showed how renewable energy sources narrowly out produced nuclear power during the first three months of 2011.76Duke University: Solar is cheaper than nuclear According to a recent study by Duke University researchers, “Electricity from new solar installations is now [2010] cheaper than electricity from proposed new nuclear” reactors.77 Federal regulator says we may not need one new reactor Calling new reactors “too expensive,” Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said in 2009, “We may not need any, ever.” According to the Wall Street Journal, Wellinghoff went on to counter the industry’s oft-heard complaint about meeting “base load” needs, saying that renewables “like wind, solar and biomass would be able to provide enough energy to meet base load capacity and future demand,” since the US can reduce energy usage by 50 percent.78 General Electric CEO: ‘today ... never do nuclear’ According to one of nuclear power’s staunchest cheerleaders and heaviest investers, Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric, the globally ubiquitous reactor engineering firm, “If you were a utility CEO and looked at your world today, you would just do gas and wind. ... You would never do nuclear. The economics are overwhelming.”79 J Samuel Walker, NRC Historian
“Since 1974, over 200 nuclear plant orders have been cancelled or postponed, causing former Energy Sec. James R. Schlesinger to warn a year ago that the nuclear option was barely alive.” “According to US government data, radioactive tritium has leaked from three quarters of US nuclear power sites.” — “Atomic States of America” (2012), a 95-minute documentary on growing up in Shirley, Long Island, a nuclear-reactor community, directed by Don Argott and Sheena Joyce. “When the war ends, the Manhattan Project becomes the Atomic Energy Commission,” said journalist Karl Grossman in 2012 documentary “Atomic States of America.” Nucl€ar wҰa$te of bil₤ion$ Cancelled, unused and destroyed reactors give the lie to industry boosters who speak of its “24/7 reliability.” Shutdowns, fires, explosions, leaks, meltdowns and hugely expensive re-builds add up to a record of nuclear malfeasance. The industry’s history is so financially disastrous that Forbes magazine thundered from its Feb. 11, 1985 cover, “The failure of the US nuclear power program ranks as the largest managerial disaster in business history, a disaster on a monumental scale. …only the blind, or the biased, can now think that most of the money has been well spent. … The scale of the US nuclear power program’s collapse is appalling: 75 plants canceled since 1978, including 28 already under construction…” By 1999, a total of 121 reactors had been canceled, squandering about $50 billion in 1995 dollars.80 Retired physics, chemistry & biology teacher and Florida anti-nuclear activist Lisa Kasenow sent Nukewatch a breakdown of some more recent breakdowns: 1. Ten partially-constructed nuclear power reactors have been cancelled. All 10 were cancelled more than 10 years after they had been ordered, and half were cancelled 18-22 years into construction. Three possible cancellations, Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bellefonte 1 & 2, and Watts Bar 2, are still under construction today, even though the reactor orders date from 1970. 2. Nuclear power units cancelled before construction work had begun number 117, and in most cases the cancellations occurred years after the reactors were ordered. Of the 117 reactors cancelled after being ordered, half of them were cancelled 4-10 years being ordered, and 20% were cancelled 8-10 years after the order was made. The TVA wins the gold medal for nuclear wasted money. TVA is responsible for the cancellation of ten and possibly 11 federally permitted reactors. Bellefonte 1 &2; Hartsville A1, A2, B1 and B2; Phipps Bend 1 &2; Yellow Creek 1 & 2 and possibly Watts Bar 2. 3. There are 21 fully-constructed and licensed commercial reactors that no longer supply electricity. These 21 commercial reactors were in operation for an average of 17 years each. Of these, 14 have high-level radioactive waste (used fuel) onsite. The longest operating time for one of these reactors is 34 years, while the shortest was under one year. More than half operated for less than 20 years. Twenty-eight percent were operational for less than 10 years. Three Mile Island Unit 2 operated for one year. Pathfinder in South Dakota ran for 30 minutes. Shoreham operated for less than one year and then closed. MAKHAJANI, NOV. 2013 (LOS ANGELES, KABC-TV, ABC7.COM) Download 385.92 Kb. Share with your friends:
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