America's 2 New Nukes Are on the Brink of Death

[GliderGuider]

45. The spreading global economic crisis is going to put a major crimp in nuclear plans in many places.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/business/global/Britains-Nuclear-Plans-Suffer-Setback.html

LONDON — Britain’s plans for a new generation of nuclear reactors suffered a serious setback Thursday when two German energy companies decided to abandon a multibillion-dollar nuclear power project because of costs.

RWE and E.On said they would not proceed with a £15 billion ($24 billion) joint venture called Horizon Nuclear Power to build nuclear power plants in Britain. The companies said that the economic crisis reduced the capital available for major projects and that Germany’s plan to phase out nuclear power had put additional financial pressure on the companies.

While the economic crisis won't stop all nuclear development immediately, it may cause countries that are at high economic risk to shelve plans for future builds. What I hope is that this "mood of re-assessment" will then be applied to all energy use. A dose of realism in the nuclear domain could be leveraged into a re-evaluation of energy policies overall, especially with regard to the build-out of coal and gas, and incentives for conservation.

Whether or not a country goes this route will depend on how deeply their culture is wedded to the concept of growth. For instance, I expect the US to keep fracking up the landscape in pursuit of one last gulp of growth. The UK will start fracking big-time as well, but more out of a sense of short-term desperation than Manifest Destiny.

The countries that will cling the tightest to nuclear power are those who need it for military purposes (Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan etc.) or those looking to use it for industrial growth like South Korea.