Nuclear power failure signals end of an era

Journal Article · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy

OSTI ID:255283

Mariotte, M ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Washington, DC (United States)

In the United States, {open_quotes}the nuclear industry is dead, kaput, finished{close_quotes} says Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C. Why? Investors are reluctant to gamble their money on a future generation of supposedly safe, economic nuclear power plants. {open_quotes}in 1979, the `safe` Three Mile Island-2 reactor turned a several-hundred-million-dollar investment into a billion-dollar loss in a matter of hours,{close_quotes} Mariotte says. {open_quotes}In fact, investing in nuclear power at this point would be like investing in the Titanic II.{close_quotes} However, diehard proponents of nuclear energy persist in their optimism for a new nuclear age, Mariotte says. These nuclear backers see the need to replace aging plants with a new generation of safer plants. But would a new generation of reactors really be safer? {open_quotes}To date, the industry may spur some new nuclear plants, it is more likely to lead to alternative renewable sources of energy that are more economical. {open_quotes}The nuclear age has ended as a result of inefficiency and unacceptable risks...After 50 years of sustained abuse, the Earth has finally and deservedly entered the end of the nuclear age,{close_quotes} Mariotte says.

• OSTI ID: 255283
• Journal Information: Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, Journal Name: Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN FARPEL; ISSN 0887-8218
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
FORECASTING
NUCLEAR POWER
POLITICAL ASPECTS