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Breck Henderson's avatar

The Plant Vogtle project has been a disaster for nuclear power in the U.S. What it demonstrated is that the U.S. no longer has the expertise to build nuclear power. Contrast Vogtle with Barakah in the United Arab Emirates. Barakah has four units that produce 1,400 megawatts each. The fourth unit is about to come online at the end of the year. The total cost was $24.4 billion. Vogtle built two units, 1,100 megawatts each, and spent more than $30 billion. The financial risk of nuclear power is so great that utility companies cannot and will not take it on. It is also hard for nuclear power to make money in the face of wind and solar operators who can afford to give their electricity away for free. They make so much from government subsidies that selling electricity is a sideline. A decade ago there was a genuine nuclear revival underway. Quite a number of projects were being pursued all around the U.S. because many sites here are licensed for multiple units but have not built all they are licensed for. Palo Verde is an example -- licensed for six units but only three have been built. The NRC has also licensed several advanced designs -- Vogue built pre-licensed AP1000 reactors -- so the regulatory hurdles have already been cleared, only the financing and construction risks remain. Sadly, these risks are enormous, as Vogtle demonstrated, and all the projects that were active a decade ago have been abandoned. It's going to require a huge change in policy by U.S. politicians and the now entrenched wind and solar interests are going to fight every step of the way. Our energy policy has descended into a gigantic mess, and it won't be easily extracted.

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Dana H Saylor Sr.'s avatar

Why let unelected bureaucrats pick winners and losers using taxpayer money? What’s wrong with all energy sources competing on a cost/benefit basis?

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