The Obama administration moved vigorously on two fronts Friday to promote nuclear power, proposing to triple federal loan guarantees for new projects and appointing a high-level panel to study what to do with nuclear waste. Administration officials confirmed that their federal budget request next week for 2011 would raise potential loan guarantees to more than $54 billion from $18.5 billion.
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
Obama's Toxic Legacy
Only governments are stupid enough to pay for nuclear power plants. No private firm can get any insurance for one. There is no such thing as 'clean, safe' nuclear power. It's a joke. They are dangerous by design (otherwise why all the expensive safety precautions?) All of them break safety regulations at some point or other, while governments and regulatory agencies look the other way. Even the French plants have had leaks and accidents.
Yuck
For ~30 years, the government said the chances of a commercial nuclear power plant were "one in 10 million".
The Three Mile Island went off, destroying a $2 billion reactor. The funders -- banks -- lost money. So they have not been willing to fund new plants.
Nuclear power is too expensive, consumers will have to pay more, they have not included the cost of waste disposal, and have no solution to nuclear waste. (Harry Reid put the kibosh on Yucca Mountain.)
Nuclear power has had government subsidies for 50 years. It still is not competitive with other power, including solar and wind.
This should be stopped until they have a plan for nuclear waste. Only the construction industry benefits from this, businesses and workers.
Nuclear expensive and uncompetitive??
Ginger, at two a.m. of this morning (February 4), nuclear plants in Ontario were cranking out more than 11,000 megawatts of electricity, much more than all the other sources -- hydro, coal, gas, and wind -- combined. The wholesale price of power at that time was less than 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. See the Independent System Operator: http://reports.ieso.ca/public/DispUnconsHOEP/.
Even at that low price, the nuclear plants are run by companies that turn profits.
Ontario, to bring more wind into the system, will pay wind generators more than 12 cents per kilowatt-hour -- nearly five times as much as the market was willing to pay for nuclear power.
Sorry, but facts are facts. Nuclear is much, much cheaper than wind.