nuclear-news

Cloudy future for nuclear power in USA

The Nuclear Power and Natural Gas Equation
NYT, By JON HURDLE, 7 Feb 13,  Duke Energy is weighing the issue of how to replace the power generated by its troubled Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida, which the company has announced that it will permanently shut down.

One option is the construction of a new plant fired by natural gas, given the low price and abundant supply of that fuel source. Such a plant could come online as early as 2018, Duke said on Tuesday……

In a post-Fukushima world in which regulators are tasked with rigorously policing nuclear safety, ailing plants like Crystal River are less likely to survive than they once were, one analyst suggested on Wednesday. …. even if it had restarted, it would have faced the same regulatory rigor and some local opposition. Similar concerns have arisen about plants like Vermont Yankee, which the Vermont Senate voted to have shut down, a move blocked by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Indian Point in New York, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he wants closed…..

Concern about the age of many American nuclear plants is exacerbated by the fact that 72 of them have had their original 40-year operating licenses extended for another 20 years, Mr. McIntyre of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted. The oldest plant is Oyster Creek in New Jersey, which began operating in 1969; the newest is Watts Bar in Tennessee, which went online in 1996……

the future of nuclear plants is clouded by the abundance of domestic natural gas, which has led many utilities to embrace that fuel for power generators.

February 8, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA