Energy Bill Aids the Expansion Plans of Atomic Power Plants

[babylonsister]

Energy Bill Aids the Expansion Plans of Atomic Power Plants


By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and MATTHEW L. WALD
Published: July 31, 2007

WASHINGTON, July 30 — A one-sentence provision buried in the Senate’s recently passed energy bill, inserted without debate at the urging of the nuclear power industry, could make builders of new nuclear plants eligible for tens of billions of dollars in government loan guarantees.

Lobbyists have told lawmakers and administration officials in recent weeks that the nuclear industry needs as much as $50 billion in loan guarantees over the next two years to finance a major expansion.

The biggest champion of the loan guarantees is Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee and one of the nuclear industry’s strongest supporters in Congress.

Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico and the energy bill’s author, has long argued that nuclear power plants do not need federal loan guarantees. Mr. Bingaman said that the industry was over-interpreting the provision and that it would provide loan guarantees for only the most innovative power plants.

But the provision has the potential to considerably expand the nuclear industry, which plans to build 28 new reactors at an estimated cost of about $4 billion to $5 billion apiece. And while the nuclear industry would be the biggest beneficiary, the provision could also set the stage for billions of dollars in loan guarantees for power plants that use “clean coal” technology and renewable fuels.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/washington/31nuclear.html?ref=todayspaper

[MadHound]

1. This is not the energy path that we as a country should take

Two problems with nukes, the first is what to do with the waste, the second, the inability to eliminate human error. Until those two problems are completely taken care of, nuclear power shouldn't be used.

Yet sadly, it appears that we haven't learned a thing, and are going to once again heavily subsidize the nuclear industry. A shame really, for with the same money we could encourage wind power, which is clean, renewable, and fully capable of fulfilling all of our electrical needs. Sadly, it seems that the corporate world favors nuclear power, for which it receives massive government subsidies and perks.