nuclear-news

Among the critics of the UCS report, Gregory Jaczko, former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Obama administration, said nuclear reactors “are a bad bet for a climate strategy.”

Jaczko, who has major concerns with the safety of nuclear power, noted that nuclear power was the cornerstone of Japan’s strategy to cut carbon emissions. But then the Fukushima accident occurred in 2011 and “wiped out all their greenhouse gas progress,” he said Friday in a statement.

According to Jaczko, the UCS report does not reflect the reality that renewable energy resources are getting cheaper faster than expected and in some cases are the least expensive source of electricity.

“In contrast, nuclear has only gotten more expensive,” he said. “New nuclear is a financial boondoggle.”

The four new plants that were licensed when Jaczko chaired the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are costing billions more than projected, and two of them have been canceled after spending $10 billion. “Imagine how much carbon-free generation could have been deployed with that investment,” he said……… https://thinkprogress.org/nuclear-watchdog-group-causes-stir-with-call-to-financially-support-existing-nuclear-plants-b1cd72559b61/