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Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Energy

Full Title:  Nuclear Energy
Author(s):  NRDC Policy Basis
Publisher(s):  NRDC Policy Basis
Publication Date: February 1, 2013
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

The U.S. generates about 19 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. Following a 30-year period in which few new reactors were completed, it is expected that four new units—subsidized by federal loan guarantees, an eight-year production tax credit, and early cost recovery from ratepayers—may come on line in Georgia and South Carolina by 2020. In total, 16 license applications have been made since mid-2007 to build 24 new nuclear reactors. The “nuclear renaissance” forecast in the middle of the last decade has not materialized due to the high capital cost of new plants; the severe 2008-2009 recession followed by sluggish electricity demand growth; low natural gas prices and the prospect of abundant future supplies; the failure to pass climate legislation that would have penalized fossil sources in the energy marketplace; and the increasing availability of cheaper, cleaner renewable energy alternatives.

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