Skip to main content

Greenville News Endorses Possible Duke Nuclear Power Plant

Taking note of Duke Power's interest in possibly building a new nuclear power plant, South Carolina's Greenville News offers an endorsement:

A natural gas-oil plant and a coal plant both have drawbacks. A gas-oil combo would be clean and efficient, but it would also lack price stability because of the volatility of oil and gas prices. Coal is efficient, but it's the dirtiest of all. And government-mandated controls on emissions make it expensive.

That leaves nuclear. Its two drawbacks: the perception that it poses a safety threat and the reality that nuclear plants are the types of hard targets terrorists covet. But here in the Upstate we live daily with both concerns. Two of Duke's nuclear plants are nearby, with the Catawba Nuclear Station sitting near the North Carolina state line and the Oconee Nuclear Station at Lake Keowee. Both plants have existed for decades without a major safety incident. Already, there is perhaps no higher priority for homeland security than protecting our nuclear assets.

Take those concerns off the table and we are left with nuclear's strengths: its cleanliness and its ability to keep rates low. In manufacturing heavy South Carolina, this is vitally important, and not just for consumers. Our large industrial electricity consumers need low, predictable energy prices. Spikes in energy prices hurt their bottom line, which in turn jeopardizes job stability.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...