nuclear-news

Gloomy state of the nuclear industry – worst year ever

2012 Was the Worst Year Ever for Nuclear Energy  the Motley Fool By  Tyler Crowe, July 14, 2013 There are lots of nuclear energy companies that would like to leave 2012 behind. Of all the major energy sources, it was the only one that saw a global decline in total consumption. The decline in the United States was largely attributed to cheap natural gas, as it captured a much larger chunk of market share, while alternative energy options became more attractive. To compound the problem, the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown made several countries abroad rethink nuclear use. In Japan, 89% of all nuclear power was shut down as a result of the disaster.

So the question remains, where does nuclear go from here? The increasing attractiveness of solar and wind is going to make it harder and harder to justify using nuclear as a base-load power source, because the economics of doing so is not as attractive as that for natural gas or even coal…..

July 15, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs