On March 19, Belgium announced a ten-year delay in the planned closure of two nuclear plants, Doel 4 and Tihange 3 while doubling its commitment to offshore wind.
Instead, much of our political commentary regarding energy self-sufficiency for the US amounts to "Drill, baby, drill." Contrast this with the announcement last week by Chinese officials that they planned to construct 150 new nuclear plants within the next fifteen years.
There are three basic business risks associated with nuclear power for an investor-owned utility: financing, operating, and sales.
The simple reason no US investor-owned utility - apart from Southern Company's Plant Vogtle- is building or considering new nuclear investments is the first risk, financing.
Take for example a large nuclear construction project at Turkey's four-unit Akuyu nuclear power station.
This, in turn, suggests that new nuclear power plant development will only occur in the US If we compromise on our free enterprise principles and take new nuclear plant development out of the private sector entirely.
As a final note, for those who say the cost to match China's new nuclear commitment is inordinately large even for the US government, assuming a cost of $10 billion per new reactor.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/What-Is-Holding-US-Nuclear-Energy-Back.html
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