Fukushima further "explodes myth" of "nuclear renaissance"

Images such as the Unit 3 explosion at Fukushima Daiichi seared itself in the public's mind internationallyIn a new report entitled "Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Economics: Historically, Accidents Dim the Prospects for Nuclear Reactor Construction; Fukushima Will Have a Major Impact," Dr. Mark Cooper of the Vermont Law School's Institute for Energy and the Environment compares the cost increases for new reactor construction -- due to increased nuclear safety regulation in the aftermath of the 1979 Three Mile Island meltdown -- to escalating costs that can be expected after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. Cooper points out, however, the new reactor construction costs were already skyrocketing before the TMI and Fukushima meltdowns -- but the accidents accelerated the cost increases dramatically.

He concludes: "From a big picture perspective, Fukushima has had and is likely to continue to have an electrifying impact because it combines the most powerful message from TMI on cost escalation with the most powerful message from Chernobyl on the risk of nuclear reactors in a nation where it was not supposed to happen. And, it has taken place in an environment where information and images flow instantaneously around the world, so the public sees the drama and trauma of losing control of a nuclear reaction in real time."

The staggering cost of replacement electricity for shutdown reactors

A neglected aspect of the astronomical costs of nuclear power is the staggering costs of replacement electricity during the frequent safety related shutdowns of large atomic reactors, which can take hundreds or even thousands of megawatts of electricity off the grid. During the 908 megawatt-electric Davis-Besse atomic reactor's 2002 to 2004 "Hole-In-the-Head-Fiasco" shutdown, FirstEnergy paid over $600 million for replacement electricity, repairs, and record fines (of $33.5 million) imposed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Another stunning example is provided by Pat McNamara in Nuclear Genocide in Canada, Part 4 on "Nuclear Costs to Date":

"Cost of Replacement Electricity

Bruce Power had to shut down reactor 6 for three months in the summer of 2002 because an accident had caused holes in the pressure and calandria tubes. As the summer is the 'peak load' time of year, Ontario was forced to buy replacement power at a cost as high as $2 per kilowatt hour instead of the normal domestic price of five cents per kilowatt hour.

It would cost $1.6 million per hour (at $2 per kilowatt hour) to replace the electricity from the 800 megawatt reactor 6 during peak demand instead of the normal price of $40,000. Assuming two hours per day of 'peak load' purchases for the duration of the three-month shutdown, Ontario would have paid $288 million for replacement electricity instead of $7.2 million at domestic rates.

The problem was worsened because of the other reactors at Bruce Power and Pickering that were on permanent or temporary shutdown. Ontario had a shortfall of up to 4000 megawatt hours of electricity during peak demand that summer which would cost $8 million per hour at $2 per kilowatt hour. It would only take 125 hours at this rate to burn up a billion dollars. To make matters worse, the replacement power they bought was from coal-fired generators, the dirtiest energy source of all.

"In New Brunswick, the provincial government has said it will incur $90- million in additional costs to replace the power lost as a result of delays in $1.4-billion project at the Point Lepreau reactor, the first Candu 6 that AECL has undertaken to refurbish." (The Globe And Mail, Friday, February 13, 2009, By: Shawn McCarthy)"