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Is nuclear finally off the table?

Is nuclear finally off the table? Mother Nature Network  Mar 12 2009

It’s not looking good for the nuclear industry. Last month, the $50 billion earmark for nuclear energy was removed from Obama’s stimulus bill. And today Yucca Mountain, the problematic nuclear waste containment facility that was supposed to finally legitimate the viability of nuclear energy, just had its plug pulled by Steven Chu, head of the D.O.E.

 

Chu tried to assure jittery senators in the Senate Budget Committee that “Nuclear is going to be part of our energy future,” but many were skeptical. A quiet and growing consensus seems to be emerging among energy experts, cleantech investors and the general public that nuclear just does not seem to add up. 

 

When asked about the future of nuclear energy this week at the ECO:nomics summit, Matt C. Rogers stated that nuclear was taken off the table because it didn’t meet the key criterion of the stimulus bill — to get projects underway and create jobs in the next 18 months. That doesn’t mean there won’t be appropriations for nuclear in the upcoming energy bill, but the focus will likely be on creating “next-gen” nuclear which by some estimates is at least 10 years away from deployment.

 

Why the slowdown? I wish I could say it is because nuclear’s many disconcerting ramifications (both political and environmental) have suddenly become clear. But in reality, the real reason is financial………………………..

we only have a very small window to solve global warming. Why would we invest our precious time and money on ANY technology (especially one that has so many unsolved problems) knowing that it relies upon a finite resource — coal, gas, oil, uranium — when you could invest in a technology that makes use of fee, infinite and safe resources — solar, wind, geothermal.

Is nuclear finally off the table? | MNN – Mother Nature Network

March 15, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized