New Issue Brief: The Dismal Prospects for Restoring Closed Nuclear Plants
Opponents of nuclear energy backtrack, but face insurmountable challenges
NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. has shuttered seven nuclear energy reactors in the past four years, but high electricity rates and growing climate concerns have caused longtime nuclear opponents to take a second look at – and even embrace – nuclear energy. California called a last-minute audible to save its plant, and Michigan is scrambling to reopen its own mere months after retiring it. This renewed interest has prompted many to ask how hard it would be to bring recently retired nuclear reactors back into service, and a new Manhattan Institute issue brief, senior fellow James Meigs delivers a sobering answer: it’s far more difficult than it should be.
The issue brief details the regulatory, technical, business, and political challenges to reviving prematurely decommissioned reactors, and offers useful lessons and recommendations to support nuclear energy going forward. These include:
Create regulatory guidelines for reopening plants: The current lack of clear guidelines for reviving decommissioned reactors is a major disincentive to any potential operating partners, who cannot invest in this costly process without knowing the regulatory measures they would have to meet.
Require retired plants be temporarily mothballed: It is far easier to destroy than to rebuild, and with nuclear reactors, once disassembly has begun there is no going back. Requiring retired plants to be mothballed – rather than immediately disassembled – would keep the reopening option open for a predetermined period, and disincentivize unnecessary plant closures.
Maintain a level economic playing field for nuclear power: Wind and solar facilities receive state and federal tax incentives wildly disproportionate to those for nuclear power. Making tax credits technology-neutral – as the Biden administration does in the Inflation Reduction Act – would eliminate the disparity and make nuclear power more economically viable.
Read the Full Issue Brief Here.
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