Oct 15, 2010
Economy Puts US Nuclear Reactors Back In Doubt
"Remember those 30 new nuclear reactors the US was slated to build?
Those plans have been halted. A few years ago, it seemed like a really good idea to build a bunch of nuclear reactors. The environmental impacts of other energy production methods were becoming well known and the economy was tanking. Well, natural gas is now much cheaper, and as a result it looks like building a single nuclear reactor in Maryland is such a risky venture that Constellation can't reach an agreement with the federal government for the loans it needs to build that reactor. The government wants Constellation to sign an agreement with a local energy provider to ensure they'll recoup at least some of the money on the loan, but Constellation doesn't like the terms. So, the first of those thirty reactors has officially stalled, with no resolution in sight. It looks like it'd take an economic meltdown to trigger nuclear reactor production in the US."
Also: The New York Times reports that the oft-touted nuclear renaissance is manifesting itself in the real world - Sluggish Economy Curtails Prospects for Building Nuclear Reactors.