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DOE’s Response to the 50% Default Rate Myth for Nuclear Plants

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Here’s an interesting update to a post at Mother Jones on nuclear’s supposed 50% default rate:

Stephanie Mueller, Press Secretary for the Department of Energy, sent this response on Tuesday evening: "This [the CBO report] is a 7 year old analysis of legislation that was never enacted, and it is not germane to the current project—which has undergone rigorous financial analysis, is conditioned on regulatory approval, uses proven technology, and sets strict financial requirements to protect taxpayers.  Further, the project already has power purchasing agreements in place.  In other words, utilities have signed contracts agreeing to buy power from the plant for many years into the future, ensuring a stream of revenue."

Doubt these actual facts will have any effects on the critics, though. But I guess the more they continue to use this claim and the more it’s debunked, then the less credible the critics become. It’s their credibility at stake so we’ll see how long they continue to latch to this misinformation, though it could be awhile. We just have to keep bopping this myth on its head.
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Anonymous said…
The thing to do now is to take wagers from the anti-nukes on whether the new Vogtle AP-1000's will default on their loans. They will look increasingly disconnected from reality as the construction progresses, since it's going to go just as well as with the new units in construction in China right now. Within 10 years it's going to be even more difficult to be an anti-nuke than it is today.
February 18, 2010 at 12:20 AM
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