Utility Giant Sets Up Critical Test For Top 2020 Democrats On Nuclear Power

[Rhiannon12866]

As Duke Energy preps renewal requests for its reactors, it’s unclear how the leading candidates would rule on a major issue in carbon-free power.


One of the nation’s largest utilities last month announced plans to request new licenses for 11 nuclear reactors, setting up a critical new test for Democratic presidential candidates on how to achieve zero-carbon energy generation.

Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, said it plans to submit its renewal applications for reactors at six power plants in the Carolinas starting in 2021, which could put those decisions in the hands of a new White House if a Democrat unseats President Donald Trump next year.

As it stands, it’s unclear where the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination would stand on relicensing. Despite intense focus on energy and climate policy, on which there are clear divisions among the candidates, the issue of nuclear power has largely been ignored in the Democratic debates. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and businessman Andrew Yang are all in, pledging to keep open safe plants and invest heavily in researching advanced reactors. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who promised to halt construction on new reactors and issue a moratorium on nuclear plant license renewals.

The views of the candidates in between are less certain. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) endorsed erstwhile climate candidate Jay Inslee’s proposal, which calls for keeping existing nuclear plants open. But at a CNN town hall last month, she vowed to start “weaning ourselves off nuclear energy” with the goal of shutting down existing plants by 2035.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, long a critic of the nuclear industry, proposed new funding for advanced reactors but hasn’t taken a definitive position on extending the lives of existing nuclear plants.

Much more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2020-nuclear_n_5d97adb4e4b0993897ffabf1



Steam rises from the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island. The Exelon-owned Pennsylvania plant, whose partial meltdown in 1979 cultivated deep public distrust of nuclear energy, closed last month. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS VIA GETTY IMAGES

[gab13by13]

1. Nuclear power is an example of Socialism,

Without taxpayer subsidies there wouldn't be nuclear power. Duke Energy is basically a welfare Queen.

[USALiberal]

2. It creates no carbon pollution.......

And coal kills thousands every year.

[Ford_Prefect]

3. Ask those who work at Hanford and other disposal sites what kind of pollution

results from Nuclear Power and you'll hear another story altogether.

Ask people like me who lived downwind of TMI how much trust they have of the industry and its regulation and you'll hear even more. What Nukes put into the air and water is not as visibly toxic but it is just as dangerous.

I now live in western Montana where the snowpack we depend on for water continues to contain traces of Fukushima.

How we deal with global warming cannot result in a trade-off of one set of toxins for another. Yes, we need immediate and significant responses to global warming but Nuke-em until we all begin to glow is not the path to follow.

[Blue_true]

5. Water vapor is one of the top two greenhouse gases.

Nuclear plant (and any power plant) cooling towers produce lots of water vapor that goes into the atmosphere. Some return as at some point as rain, but not all does.

[pecosbob]

4. Screw Duke

How about they clean up all the toxic coal sludge pits they've left all over the countryside before they start asking for tax dollars.