Economics stopped another reactor, this time in Alabama,
less than a week after
San Onofre.
But more are still in the works.
Brian Wingfield wrote for Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday,
TVA Shelves Work at Alabama Nuclear Plant Amid Industry Struggle,
“Over the past few months, TVA has been looking across the
company, including at our nuclear construction projects, to
determine the work that is most important to perform,” Mike
Skaggs, the TVA senior vice president for nuclear construction, said
in the statement. “Hard decisions are necessary.”
The U.S. nuclear industry is wrestling with competition from a glut
of natural gas, which has lowered its price and made the fuel more
attractive for electric utilities. At the same time, U.S. regulators
are writing safety rules following a triple meltdown at Japan’s
Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in 2011.
The fracking backlash is building against natural gas.
And guess what’s even cheaper? Continue reading →