Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Nuclear Miracle Is Plagued By Fast-Rising Reactor Costs And Cheap Renewables

Nuclear Miracle Is Plagued By Fast-Rising Reactor Costs And Cheap Renewables
The so-called "French nuclear miracle" embraced by some U.S. policymakers as a model for this nation is a misconception masking a pattern of fast-rising nuclear reactor construction costs and a "crowding out" of investments in renewable energy, such as wind, solar and hydro-electric power, according to a new study by Vermont Law School's Institute for Energy and the Environment. Study author Mark Cooper, the VLS Institute's senior research fellow for economic analysis, said: "The problems in the French nuclear industry are similar to the problems that have long afflicted the U.S. industry, so there it no reason to believe that things will change if the U.S. follows the French path.
If the U.S. nuclear industry is relaunched with massive subsidies, this analysis shows the greatest danger is not that the U.S. will import French technology, but that it will replicate the French model of nuclear socialism.
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