Reactor Reax Top Stories - No Credible Path for Nuclear Power

Catch the latest news about nuclear energy and its accompanying hazards.

Courtesy: cutcaster.com

(WASHINGTON, DC) - In this week's roundup of nuclear-related stories, an Op-Ed writer opines that we have seen the future of industrial policy and it doesn't work No Credible Path for Nuclear Power, carried by National Journal claims that tax credits only grow the deficit, claiming that what is necessary, are deficit reductions.

An editorial writer penned No nuclear renaissance in the Eugene, Oregon Register Guard, suggesting that the latest round of nuclear power plants probably won't mean the beginning of a 'nuclear renaissance'. CNN says the nuclear plants under construction in the US are all too similar to the Fukushima facility.

These stories and many more are in this week's Reactor Reax.

No Credible Path for Nuclear Power, (op-ed), National Journal, February 13, 2012. William O'Keefe: "If loans guarantees and production tax credits are the foundation for a renaissance, we can't afford it. We have seen the future of industrial policy and it doesn't work. Tax credits simply make the deficit larger when what is needed are actions to reduce the deficit and debt. Several years ago an assessment of the nuclear loan guarantee program concluded that perhaps as much as 50% would end up in default." William O'Keefe is the CEO of the George C. Marshall Institute.

No nuclear renaissance, (editorial), The (Eugene, OR) Register Guard, February 12, 2012. "The approval by federal regulators last Thursday of plans to build the nation's first new nuclear power plants in more than three decades is unlikely to mark the beginning of a 'nuclear renaissance' once touted as inevitable by industry officials."

Groups sue to stop Vogtle expansion project, Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 16, 2012. "The environmental groups have asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop construction until judicial review. They also want the U.S. Department of Energy to force Southern's utility Georgia Power to release details about scheduling delays and construction cost overruns."

Reactor at TVA's Watts Bar plant over budget, behind schedule, Chattanooga Times Free Press, February 16, 2012. "Tennessee Valley Authority board members learned Thursday that the second reactor at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant will not be completed before 2014 and is over budget. 'We didn't understand the complexity of the project as well as we should have,' TVA's new nuclear chief, Mike Skaggs, told the board, blaming problems on 'leadership.' The reactor was initially to cost $2.5 billion and be completed later this year. TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore said it may be April before he can say how late or over budget the plant will be."

US nuclear revival unlikely absent more regulatory support: S&P, Platts, February 15, 2012. "The likelihood of a US "nuclear renaissance" this decade is faint and changes in state regulatory treatment of nuclear projects is needed before utilities outside Georgia and South Carolina build new reactors, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said Wednesday."

U.S. nuclear plants similar to Fukushima spark concerns, CNN, February 17, 2012. "As the United States prepares to build its first new nuclear power reactors in three decades, concerns about an early generation of plants have resurfaced since last year's disaster in Japan."

Japan's nuclear safety chief apologizes, says, country's regulations are flawed, outdated, Associated Press, February 15, 2012. "Japan's nuclear safety chief said Wednesday the country's regulations are flawed, outdated and below global standards, and he apologized for their failure when a tsunami crippled one plant last year."

"Reactor Reax" is featured on www.NuclearBailout.org, a Web site maintained by Physicians for Social Responsibility.