NEI Nuclear Notes

Last night, seven of us had the opportunity to chat amongst ourselves about President Obama’s State of the Union , the announcement of a blue-ribbon commission , the proposal to increase loan guarantees and Vermont Yankee’s tritium quagmire . Last week was quite an eventful week for the nuclear industry so for one of Rod Adams’s podcast shows , a number of us were asked by Rod if we could share our thoughts. The five other knowledgeable participants were: Kelly Taylor, a 24 year nuclear industry professional and frequent Atomic Show guest. Meredith Angwin, a physical chemist and small businessperson who has recently started publishing a blog titled Yes, Vermont Yankee . Charles Barton, who blogs at Nuclear Green and Energy from Thorium . Dan Yurman, who blogs at Idaho Samidat , writes for Fuel Cycle Weekly and is the blogger with the highest readership at The Energy Collective. Robert Margolis, a 24 year nuclear industry professional who has operated reactor...

Mr. Elliott Negin, media director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, published the same jaded piece at Seeking Alpha and Greentech Media on how nuclear power is “Too Costly to Revive.” He begins by painting a somewhat rosy picture of the nuclear industry but then begins to dish it out by discussing the “industry’s Achilles’ heel” (cost of construction). The nuclear industry likes to point out that it has low production costs, which it does. What it doesn't mention, however, are its rapidly escalating capital costs, those associated with paying the cost of plant construction, including financing. Well, we like to tout the good cost numbers of nuclear and of course our critics like to point out the not-so-good numbers. So which is it? According to EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2010 released last month, nuclear’s estimated costs are definitely competitive with other technologies . If you look at the total levelized unsubsidized costs of the emission-free technologie...