nuclear-news

Iowa wise to stop dead a plan for Small Modular Nuclear reactors

 “The still substantial economic, technical and regulatory uncertainties surrounding Small Modular Reactors make their future role as a competitive, safe, clean electricity source only speculative, and given the track record of nuclear power there are reasons for pessimism.”

Experts: Nuclear Power Industry Woes Spreading Across Nation From Florida To Iowa Market Watch  WASHINGTON, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -“…….Steven Falck, senior policy advocate, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Iowa, said: “Common sense prevailed in Iowa to stop the advance financing of a small modular reactor.

MidAmerican drafted legislation for ‘Construction Work in Progress’ for nuclear facilities
in the state. The legislation would have changed traditional ratemaking principles to allow for cost recovery before a facility is complete and with no guarantee that a facility will ever be completed.
The bill was amended on three different occasions to secure passage in
the Iowa House last year and the Senate Commerce Committee this year.
When sponsors introduced the three amendments, proponents described
the amendments as providing additional protections to ratepayers, but
upon close examination, the amendments did not address the shift of
financial risk to customers or the ability for the utility to recoup
costs for a facility that is never completed and operated.”

Edward Smith, safe energy director, Missouri Coalition for the
Environment, said: “We led a ballot initiative campaign in 1976 that
resulted in 65 percent of statewide voters outlawing Construction Work
In Progress (CWIP). MCE and its allies have defended this law from
attack in the state legislature three of the last four years. Ameren
Missouri, our state’s largest monopoly utility, has been looking to
expand nuclear power in Missouri since 2008. Now, Ameren Missouri
wants $452 million of taxpayer money because it cannot convince
legislators that paying in advance for expensive and risky nuclear
power is a good idea. The Department of Energy grant would go towards
the development of unproven and untested small modular reactors. If
SMRs make financial sense, which they do not, the nuclear industry
should use private investment money instead of risking taxpayer money
on what is likely to become an ‘atomic Solyndra’.”

Matthew McKinzie, Ph.D., senior scientist, Nuclear Program and Lands and Wildlife Program, Natural Resources Defense Council, said: “The still substantial economic, technical and regulatory uncertainties surrounding Small Modular Reactors make their future role as a competitive, safe, clean electricity source only speculative, and given the track record of nuclear power there are reasons for pessimism.”
For more on the issues associated with SMRs, see
http://www.psr.org/resources/small-modular-reactors.html .
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/experts-nuclear-power-industry-woes-spreading-across-nation-from-florida-to-iowa-2012-05-23

May 24, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, technology