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dew2459 t1_ix2c9gt wrote

Reply to comment by TheSausageKing in Higher energy prices are a call for more renewables and maybe nuclear, not more pipelines by TeacherGuy1980

>no nuclear

We are shutting down nuclear plants in the northeast and not really replacing them with anything except more natural gas plants, and a little bit of solar.

Even if Cape Wind had actually completed, it was only going to be about 2/3 the power Pilgrim nuclear plant could generate (before it shut).

We are going backwards on electricity generation, and depending more and more on those natural gas power plants ... without even the simple infrastructure to pipe cheap gas in from the nearby Marcellus shale fields.

I have to agree the current politicians are failing us.

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LuiShirosagi20 t1_ix2qlse wrote

Nuclear Energy is by far the best possible idea, if handled correctly. Knowing America however, it'll be handled in the worst possible way, if implemented at all.

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aseriousfailure t1_ix3f3x0 wrote

Nuclear's been slandered by the fossil fuel bigwigs because it is the best clean energy competitor we have right now to fossil fuels.

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Wrexem t1_ix35hdw wrote

Why build a pipeline when you could build a plant near the fields? Shipping it as electricity almost has to be the best option right?

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mmelectronic t1_ix3e9ue wrote

Transmission line losses would probably make it less efficient than a pipeline. Otherwise they would

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movdqa t1_ix3ystg wrote

You also have less risk with distributed production due to outages in production or transmission system failures.

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wittgensteins-boat t1_ix671fk wrote

What is the failure of government that th you are against? ?

Specifity needed.

Electric plants are created by non government corporations.

The power line from Quebec through Maine restarted construction after the Maine Supreme Court overturned parts of the Maine referendum law halting it

Coal and oil and nuclear plants have gone out of operation because of cheap natural gas, also provided by non governmental corporations.

Wind power and Solar power are growing rapidly from very small beginnings. It takes time to build an industry.

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TheSausageKing t1_ix89hgh wrote

Pilgrim was closed because of local NIMBYs and politicians inc. Warren blocked every attempt to make it continue or expand, and pledged to phase out all nuclear by 2035. The costs of lawsuits and regulatory risks made it too expensive, so every company that wanted to make it work gave up.

So, yes, technically it was cost (and risk) that caused Pilgrim to close, but it was costs created by protestors and politicians.

Had the project been welcomed with open arms, it would be operating today.

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wittgensteins-boat t1_ixamr1y wrote

Warren has no authority to block anything. She is not the NRC, not FERC, nor a shareholder.

Entergy already had the nuclear license extension in hand, for the extended life of the reactor. The plant would need major rebuilding as a 50 year old project.

Selling electricity at a loss compared to ability to recover new expenditure of capital for repairs is decisive.

When natural gas was tremendously cheap, and a natural gas powered electric plant easy to build or convert from oil, nuclear did not demonstrate capability for return on capital for an aging plant and showed low prospects with gas likely to stay cheap for the coming forseeable future and decade, in a changing electricity market regime.

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TheSausageKing t1_ixb19ru wrote

You don’t think a sitting senator writing dozens of letters to the NRC and publicly opposing a plant in her district makes a difference in the odds that plant happens?

ok. 👍

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wittgensteins-boat t1_ixbj8p4 wrote

The plant had the license, and authority to continue operating.

This was an economic decision of the follow-on owner, Entergy, subsequent to Boston Edison's sale to Entergy, deciding to exit. Entergy had received a license extension in 2006, relicensed through 2026, but exited in, 2019, not even bothering to take six more years of operating income on the plant.

Entergy transferred to a decommissioning organization, and exited the merchant nuclear power business, fulfilling its corporate plan to divest itself of merchant nuclear assets. It continues to operate nuclear plants in its home utility territory in Southern US.

References.

"Accelerated Decommissioning of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: A Progress Report." Power Magazine. March 2022.
https://www.powermag.com/accelerated-decommissioning-of-pilgrim-nuclear-power-station-a-progress-report/

Entergy completes plan to exit Merchant Nuclear operations
Energy Corporate announcement https://www.entergynewsroom.com/news/entergy-completes-sale-palisades-power-plant-holtec/

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TheSausageKing t1_ix888ou wrote

Thank Sen Warren. She’s strongly anti-nuclear and was instrumental in forcing the Pilgrim plant to be closed.

> The Democratic presidential hopeful pledged to not only prevent the building of new power plants, but also said she would phase out all nuclear power by 2035 and replace it with renewables. After 52 years of producing energy, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station closed its doors on May 31.

https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/sen-elizabeth-warren-pledges-not-to-invest-in-nuclear-energy-and-focus-on-renewables-instead.html

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