The four US nuclear power plants being built this century are in trouble because of skyrocketing costs. Two in South Carolina were abandoned after construction costs spiraled out-of-control to $9 billion; the two Vogtle plants in Georgia are a $35 billion fiasco. For the first time since 1954 no new large, nuclear plants are being built in the United States. The hyped miracle tech that would save the industry, small modular reactors (SMRs), are already too costly to compete with alternative energy, and the first development [illustration: NuScale mock up] is over budget and behind schedule. NuScale's SMR lacks utility buyers due to cost concerns. There are no large reactors being built in the US since 1954, the beginning of commercial nuclear power in this country. If Diablo Canyon in California is allowed to continue operating past its expiration date, its electricity would be $8-12 billion over market price through 2030.
This situation did not stop Congress, which seems enthralled by passing legislation with acronymic titles regardless of merit. Only two senators voted against this bill, Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Ed Markey (D-MA). The Accelerated Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy will relax the regulation process for licensing new reactors, allow foreign ownership in the US, and reduce licensing fees. Nuclear opponents see the legislation as the biggest push in thirty-five years on behalf of an industry that has failed to materialize its promise to generate electricity "too cheap to meter". Industry propaganda attempts to portray nuclear power as the answer to the climate crisis. The industry is neither clean nor without negative environmental impacts. The US has yet to solve the problem of highly radioactive waste disposal. The 90 page bill was inserted into a must-pass wildfire grants bill of three pages--typical behavior for nuclear power hucksters in Congress, like Shelly Capito (R-WV), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.
A spokesperson for the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “Passage of this legislation will only increase the danger to people already living downwind of nuclear facilities from a severe accident or terrorist attack, and it will make it even more difficult for communities to prevent risky, experimental reactors from being sited in their midst...This is not about making the reactor licensing process more efficient, but about weakening safety and security oversight across the board, a longstanding industry goal. The change to the NRC’s mission effectively directs the agency to enforce only the bare minimum level of regulation at every facility it oversees across the United States.”
In US Person's opinion, the only miracle associated with commercial nuclear power in the US is that only one reactor, Three Mile Island, has melted down in a half century of operation.