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| Sec. John Kerry |
The film contains a brief clip of U.S. Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) urging his fellow senators to end funding for the EBR-II. But what the film didn't mention is that like the five environmentalists profiled in Pandora's Promise, Secretary Kerry has undergone something of a conversion on the question on nuclear energy himself.
Back in 2010, then-Senator Kerry was a co-sponsor of the American Power Act. Though it failed to pass into law, the proposed legislation included a number of key incentives that would have encouraged construction of new nuclear power plants here at home. The following points were culled directly from the press materials announcing the introduction of the legislation:
Increasing Nuclear Power GenerationHere's a clip we culled from C-SPAN's website of Secretary Kerry participating in a press conference announcing the introduction of the legislation.
- We have included a broad package of financial incentives to increase nuclear power generation including regulatory risk insurance for 12 projects, accelerated depreciation for nuclear plants, a new investment tax credit to promote the construction of new generating facilities, $5.4 billion in loan guarantees and a manufacturing tax credit to spur the domestic production of nuclear parts.
- We improve the efficiency of the licensing process.
- We invest in the research and development of small, modular reactors and enhanced proliferation controls.
- We designate an existing national laboratory as a nuclear waste reprocessing Center of Excellence.
The evolution of thinking on nuclear energy is happening across America, including at the highest levels of government.
Comments
The US is currently in an era of stagnant electricty demand and low natural gas prices. Construction of any new nuclear power plants is unlikely to be considered economical at this point in time and construction of advanced plants would be decidely foolhardy. I fear far too many nuclear advocates let "perfect be the enemy of good" when they promote breeder reactor designs or molten salt designs. Even small modular reactors are something of a pipe-dream.
Devoting resources to research advanced nuclear reactors is simply a waste of money at this point in time until uranium prices drastically increase. To be quite frank, no new nuclear plant of ANY kind will be considered for construction until natural gas prices are at least double what they are now and electricty demand increases. Given the amount of GDP growth this would require and the slow rate at which GDP is currently growing I would say we are at best 5 years away from a time when nuclear could again be considered an economical source of power. Also, please note that if the Votgle and VC Summer projects come in well over budget (which all indications are that they will given the conisderable schedule delays) then no nuclear plants will be considered for at least another decade.
Most of us working in the nuclear industry for any length of time have seen a project we were working on abruptly canceled. I doubt the cancellation of the IFR ruined anyone's "life and career". Sure people had to go find new jobs, but that's life in this sort of industry. I've worked on many research or construction projects that weren't canceled, and as soon as the research is done or the plant is built you lose your job. It's the nature of project based work.