nuclear-news

Republicans and Democrats Finally Agree on Nuclear. It’s the Industry That’s the Problem.

The atomic age is perpetually on the verge of dawning.

 Nuclear power is a political winner — but not a money saver. Just ask
Tim Echols. Echols’ term on the Georgia Public Service Commission is up
this year, and unlike most states, his position is an elected one.

He says the Vogtle nuclear plant has been a campaign issue — it’s hiked
customers’ bills by about 12 percent since coming fully online last year,
$21 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule — but that his
opponents haven’t been able to weaponize it. He won his Republican
primary resoundingly last month.

“All the Democratic opponents are saying
that they would build Vogtle,” he said. “They’re just not saying how
they would pay for it. Or they’re saying they’re going to lower bills,
but they’re going to build nuclear, and those two things don’t go
together.”

The hippies are dying out, and with them the memories of
Shoreham, San Onofre, V.C. Summer, Three Mile Island and other nuclear
plants that didn’t pan out, suffered radiation leaks or otherwise closed
before their time. It’s not the policy that’s holding nuclear back:
It’s the industry.

All the incentives and permitting reforms the
government can muster won’t change the basic economics that have led to
just three new nuclear plants getting built in the U.S. this century: It
takes too long, is too expensive and is only getting pricier. “In terms
of new nuclear, it’s a nonstarter,” said Stanford engineering professor
Mark Z. Jacobson, a longtime skeptic of nuclear power. “They can spend as
much money as they want, it’s never going to happen.”

 Politico 9th July 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/09/gop-dems-nuclear-energy-industry-problems-debra-kahn-column-00344370

July 12, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA