President Biden launches next nuclear fool’s errand

White House

Congress and the White House have launched their next fool’s errand chasing after even more nuclear power mirages.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm acknowledged it in her “victory lap” around the only two Westinghouse AP1000 units to finish construction and finally connect to the electric grid in Georgia—11 years behind schedule and well over $20+ billion over-budget.

“‘It’s not a given that this buildout of nuclear is going to happen,’ she said at the American Nuclear Society Society’s annual conference. ‘So here’s the hard ask. Who here is going to announce plans to build the next AP1000?’”

Only 2 of 12 Westinghouse AP1000 units that signed up for the “nuclear renaissance” in 2007 managed to finish. Only two other Westinghouse units broke ground in South Carolina to spend $10 billion on an abandoned construction project. Westinghouse went bankrupt in the misadventure as part of a tally of 32+ new reactor units that never finished.

Similarly starting in 2007, the launch of “Small Modular Reactors” technology has yet to show one economically viable SMR design certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Too late, too costly, dirty, dangerous and unnecessary. Go Renewables with electricity storage, energy efficiency and conservation.

See more at Power Magazine’s July 8, 2024 commentary, “Cost Makes Adding New Nuclear Power Plants Unthinkable.”

 

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