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USA’s failing nuclear industry will not be saved by new plan to stockpile uranium

Will More Uranium Really Solve America’s Nuclear Crisis?  Oil Price, By Haley Zaremba – Jun 10, 2020, “……..  Even though the United States is responsible for a whopping third of all nuclear energy production worldwide, the country is quickly losing ground as nuclear plants struggle to turn a profit. Hit hard by the influx of cheap oil and natural gas from the domestic shale revolution, the nuclear energy industry in the U.S. is now being pummeled once again by COVID-19, and this time, many experts are wondering whether the industry can weather the storm.
Now, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is mobilizing to combat the failure of the domestic nuclear energy sector. “Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, the top brass of DOE and what loosely might be described as the nuclear energy establishment took to a webinar May 29 to explain and endorse the plan,” Forbes reported this week. “The industry was represented by Maria Korsnick, CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the dominant nuclear power trade association, and by Clarence ‘Bud’ Albright, CEO of the smaller U.S. Nuclear Industry Council.” 
 The ambitious plan to revitalize U.S. nuclear energy centers around “the creation of a $1.5-billion uranium stockpile along with associated nuclear processing facilities,” said Forbes. “Collectively, these are known as the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle.”  ……but will this really save the nuclear industry?
Not really, since uranium has never been the issue. ……..“But the DOE has undermined its own nuclear navy argument by stating that the nuclear navy is well-supplied with fuel until 2050, and more uranium in storage would do nothing for the nuclear industry which is in decline. It is the equivalent of getting a haircut to cure a stomachache.”
According to Forbes’ reporting, this new plan lacks teeth because it does nothing to address what it identifies as the “two real problems of the [nuclear energy] industry,” which are the absence of a domestic market for new nuclear reactors and the difficulty in maintaining operations at the country’s existing plants. In fact, the U.S. has built next to zero new reactors in the last three decades, and those reactors that are managing to stay above water are largely doing so thanks to hefty government subsidies.
And then there is the crushing cost of maintaining nuclear waste, which is falling on the shoulders of U.S. taxpayers.…….https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Will-More-Uranium-Really-Solve-Americas-Nuclear-Crisis.html

June 11, 2020 - Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA

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