Our Atomic Dominoes are Falling

[PamW]

15. WRONG!!! WRONG!!! WRONG!!!

Warpy,

This is the umpteenth time I've heard that old LIE that nuclear fission power was supposed to be "too cheap to meter" and that the nuclear industry was lying.

The nuclear industry NEVER said that nuclear fission reactors would be "too cheap to meter". That line was coined by a Government official, then Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Lewis Strauss. Additionally, Strauss wasn't referring to nuclear fission power plants; he was talking about nuclear fusion:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Strauss

In 1954, Strauss predicted that atomic power would make electricity "too cheap to meter." He was referring to Project Sherwood, a secret program to develop power from hydrogen fusion, not uranium fission reactors as is commonly believed.

Nuclear power has been the second most cost effective way at generating electricity. Only coal slightly beats nuclear, but coal has lots of externalized costs that are not accounted for, whereas with nuclear those costs are internalized to the cost structure, including waste disposal and decommissioning.

It's true some nuclear operators have not maintained their plants as well as they should; e.g Crystal River.

However, other companies like Exelon are still operating their plants economically and safely.

It's a lot like looking at the country's poorest operating airline that is about to go out of business, and from that concluding that the entire aviation industry is uneconomical.

Ill-conceived wishful thinking on the part of the anti-nukes does not constitute reality.

PamW