Astronuc said:
I'm not so sure that "too expensive" is a red herring. I hear this mentioned by the utilities, and already two utilities have backed away from plans on new plants.
Astronuc,
I'm sure some CEOs are ultra-conservative when it comes to a nuclear power project.
However, I think "too expensive" is mixed in with the uncertainty of the political situation.
I bet one could plot how much money the utilities are willing to risk as a function of the
uncertainty of having the investment pan out. Because of our current licensing system,
as well as the fact that a utility's plans can be essentially "vetoed" in the latter stages
by State regulators - as happened at Shoreham - then I completely understand the
unwillingness of utility CEOs in this matter.
However, rather than foregoing nuclear power, or doing nuclear power "on the cheap" - we need
to address the uncertainties. We need to be able to assure a utility that once they have won their
case in Court - that a subsequent lawsuit can't overturn the previous win. [ In other legal cases,
the legal profession has the concept of a "second bite at the apple" - which means to redo the
adjudication of a resolved legal issue. "Second bites" are usually not permitted - except when it
comes to nuclear power plants. ]
We have to ensure that State PUCs don't "abuse" their power by dictating that a utility has to
give away power for free if it is generated by a nuclear power plant as New York did with Shoreham.
If we did that - I bet a lot of this "too expensive" talk would go away. Even under current conditions,
there are some utilities that are willing to build more nuclear power plants.
For example, Detroit Edison in Michigan realizes that the long term view for their service area with all
its industry; will require more electric power generation capacity - and Detroit Edison has announced
its intent to build Fermi Unit 3 to join the currently operating Fermi Unit 2.
For those utilities that are willing to commit to building more nuclear capacity - we should help enable
them to do so.
It's not useful for us to say "they're too expensive - let's not build nuclear power plants".
That's just throwing in the towel for no good reason.
Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist