Nuclear Dreams: Will the Next Atomic Age Ever Come? (WSJ on new WorldWatch report)

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/06/19/nuclear-dreams-will-the-next-atomic-age-ever-come/

June 19, 2008, 11:25 am
Nuclear Dreams: Will the Next Atomic Age Ever Come?
Posted by Keith Johnson

While President Bush picked up the offshore-drilling gauntlet yesterday, senator John McCain returned to the charge on nuclear power. He called for the construction of 45 more nuclear reactors by 2030—or a roughly 50% expansion of the current U.S. nuclear reactor fleet.

Now that public support for the stuff appears to be growing, how realistic is Sen. McCain’s faith in nuclear power?

For the folks at the Worldwatch Institute, not very. The D.C.-based environmental thinktank just produced a scorecard on nuclear power’s progress around the world: It’s growing one-tenth as fast as wind power. Last year, just 2 gigawatts of new nuclear power were brought on line, or a 0.5% increase over the world’s existing nuclear capacity.

While there are 34 reactors under construction around the world, a dozen of them—including one in the U.S.—have been in the works for 20 years. Projects from Finland to China are routinely delayed and over-budget.

<snip>

Here are some snips from the WorldWatch report:

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5447

Nuclear Power Crawling Forward
by Jim Riccio

In 2007, global installed capacity of nuclear power grew by less than 2,000 megawatts to 372,000 megawatts.1 (See Figure 1.) The slight growth in nuclear power is attributable to the addition of three new reactors in India, China, and Romania.2 The new nuclear capacity is equivalent to just one tenth of the new wind power installed globally in 2007.3
...
By the end of 2007, some 34 reactors were under construction worldwide, but 12 of these units have been under construction for 20 years or more.9
...
Asia accounts for the most nuclear power plant construction, with 20 new reactors currently under way.17
...
In Taiwan, the Lungman reactors have fallen five years behind schedule, due in part to welds that failed inspection in 2002 and had to be redone.25 In addition, the Taiwan Power Company acknowledged that "the rising cost of steel, concrete and other commodities has gutted subcontractor profits, causing them to stop work to renegotiate fixed price contracts."26
...
Yet even nuclear industry officials have questioned whether new reactors are economically viable without government subsidies. The president of Constellation Generation Group, an energy company that is planning to build a reactor in the state of Maryland, has stated that it will not build nuclear plants without loan guarantees.35
...
Wall Street has yet to be sold on new nuclear investments in the United States. Moody's, a credit rating agency, has stated that it "believes that many of the current expectations regarding new nuclear generation are overly ambitious," raising questions about the industry's cost estimates and its schedule for bringing the next U.S. nuclear reactor online.36
...
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., became the first U.S. company to postpone plans for a new reactor when it withdrew its letter of intent to government regulators in late 2007.40 MidAmerican's spokesperson stated that it does not currently make economic sense to pursue this project.41
...

Every project is a boondoggle, rife with fraud and cost over runs. They'll ram through a few of these until the public gets good and sick of being ripped off....

There are no nuclear power plants operating today mostly because Amory Lovins announced the death of nuclear energy in 1980.

There is no reason to post illiterate post after illiterate post about how nuclear energy won't work.

It's unnecessary, because it isn't working.]

It can't work.

Nope. You've collected one brazillion news articles stating as much.

No reason to convince anyone. Everyone's convinced. Yoopi-di-delicious.

Yup.

Yuppie.

Yuppie with a solar powered car yessssssssalicious.

That failed plant in Finland, that's it. The death nail/knell/knoll/knobbin for nuclear everywhere, just like Saint Amory of the Parking Lot Saith.

Oh and in other news:

http://www.fennovoima.fi/en/news/2008/Fennovoima-starts-technical-planning-in-three-locations



I guess Ruppert Murdoch's Finnish isn't much better than his English.

You crack me up!

edit to add from the WorldWatch report:
'Wall Street has yet to be sold on new nuclear investments in the United States. Moody's, a credit rating agency, has stated that it "believes that many of the current expectations regarding new nuclear generation are overly ambitious," raising questions about the industry's cost estimates and its schedule for bringing the next U.S. nuclear reactor online.'

LOL - "overly ambitious" - under-statement of the year! BWAHAHAHAHA!