US Approves Billions in Aid To Restart Michigan Nuclear Plant (nytimes.com) 27
The Energy Department said on Monday that it had finalized a $1.52 billion loan guarantee to help a company restart a shuttered nuclear plant in Michigan -- the latest sign of rising government support for nuclear power. From a report: Two rural electricity providers that planned to buy power from the reactor would also receive $1.3 billion in federal grants [Editor's note: the link is likely paywalled; alternative source] under a program approved by Congress to help rural communities tackle climate change. The moves will help Holtec International reopen the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Mich., which ceased operating in 2022. The company plans to inspect and refurbish the plant's reactor and seek regulatory approval to restart the plant by October 2025.
After years of stagnation, America's nuclear industry is seeing a resurgence of interest. Both Congress and the Biden administration have offered billions of dollars in subsidies to prevent older nuclear plants from closing and to build new reactors. Despite concerns about high costs and hazardous waste, nuclear plants can generate electricity at all hours without emitting the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. David Turk, the deputy secretary of energy, said he expected U.S. electricity demand would grow by 15 percent over the next few years, driven by an increase in electric vehicles, a boom in battery and solar factories as well as a surge of new data centers for artificial intelligence. That meant the nation needs new low-carbon sources of power that could run 24/7 and complement wind and solar plants.
After years of stagnation, America's nuclear industry is seeing a resurgence of interest. Both Congress and the Biden administration have offered billions of dollars in subsidies to prevent older nuclear plants from closing and to build new reactors. Despite concerns about high costs and hazardous waste, nuclear plants can generate electricity at all hours without emitting the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. David Turk, the deputy secretary of energy, said he expected U.S. electricity demand would grow by 15 percent over the next few years, driven by an increase in electric vehicles, a boom in battery and solar factories as well as a surge of new data centers for artificial intelligence. That meant the nation needs new low-carbon sources of power that could run 24/7 and complement wind and solar plants.
Great news for us locals (Score:4, Funny)
We can go back to swim at the beach in Van Buren State Parks well into October once the nuclear plant is releasing warm water into the lake.
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The German government forces old nukes to shutdown.
The American government pays old nukes to reopen.
Certainly very different policies.
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It won't be restarted. This is 53 year old reactor. The amount of money needed to bring this up again is several times what is mentioned here: components will have to be fabricated from scratch and the whole thing will need to be recertificated by the NRC. The design documents are all owned by some Canadian private equity outfit now, via the carcass of Westinghouse via Combustion Engineering.
This is Whitmer and the (D)s in the MI legislature pulling an election year campaign stunt. It will die on the
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It won't be restarted. This is 53 year old reactor. The amount of money needed to bring this up again is several times what is mentioned here: components will have to be fabricated from scratch and the whole thing will need to be recertificated by the NRC. The design documents are all owned by some Canadian private equity outfit now, via the carcass of Westinghouse via Combustion Engineering.
This is Whitmer and the (D)s in the MI legislature pulling an election year campaign stunt. It will die on the vine next year.
In other words: 'Pork' ??
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Re:Great news for us locals (Score:4, Informative)
components will have to be fabricated from scratch and the whole thing will need to be recertificated by the NRC.
It's licensed to operate until 2031. It's been idle for two years, so some work will need to be done to restart it, but not nearly what you imply.
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Maybe it will never start. But some amount of that money will flow to business that will at the very least start training people to restart reactors. That's kinda the thing with investments they don't all return but end up laying the groundwork for future investments. Stunt or not, a government investment will hopefully raise peoples interest in nuclear power.
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any 3 eye fish?
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"Smithers, do you think maybe my power plant killed those ducks?"
"There's no maybe about it, Sir."
"Excellent."
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Fifty Two Years' Sabotage (Score:2)
Nixon announced Project Independence on Nov. 7th 1973.
The Bush Oil/CIA Family (Brown Brothers Harriman, et. al) were so enraged by Nixon's vision of a thousand reactors making energy "too cheap to meter" that just ten days later he was forced to give his "I am not a crook" speech and was quickly impeached.
Kissinger embarked on the Petrodollar effort with the 50-year Saudi deal (which expired last month) and Papa Bush was fast-tracked for the Whitehouse while Hollywood was paid to vilify atomic energy.
It's o
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Thanks for the info and the memories!
Good but not enough (Score:3)
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There were interest rates near zero for much of the teens and that didn't help Vogtle. Nuclear was way too expensive then and it is now as well.
Needs to be more affordable (Score:2)
Honestly, it is sounding like we need an Elon Musk type person for nuclear power.
Musk's real talent, I think, is recognizing a field where the current companies are so ossified that coming in with a fresh perspective can exploit the market effectively. EVs for cars, reusable rockets for space.
Right now, I'd bet that a fresh perspective and way of doing things might work for nuclear power.
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Probably true but at the same time outside of those two disruptions Musk's other efforts have been a bust. The thing with EV's and rockets is their regulatory environment and risk profile made them easy pickings for disrupting.
Nuclear I would say is closer in line to what Hyperloop and Boring Company were attempting to do and we see how well both of those ventures have gone (nowhere really). I don't think his style works in these slower and naturally more constrained problems. Turns out there may not be
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So, build 'em fast and loose, let them blow up to learn what's broken, repeat until it works. Please, no.
Re: Needs to be more affordable (Score:2)
"Honestly, it is sounding like we need an Elon Musk type person for nuclear power."
Why, not enough completely insane boosters of nuclear power exist now?
A fresh perspetive (Score:2)
Honestly, it is sounding like we need an Elon Musk type person for nuclear power.
Musk's real talent, I think, is recognizing a field where the current companies are so ossified that coming in with a fresh perspective can exploit the market effectively
Then maybe Elon Musk already considered nuclear and passed on it?
Why restart old technology? (Score:2)
Wouldn't it make more sense to spend the money building the latest nuclear reactor designs? Or is the glacial pace of government approval the real problem?
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Ohio (Score:2)
Let's hope it goes better in Michigan than it did in Ohio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]