[LINK] "Another Reactor Closes, Punctuating New Reality for U.S. Nuclear Power"

[rfmcdonald]

National Geographic's Christina Nunez reports how nuclear reactors in the United States are being closed down, but are leaving a legacy of issues not previously addressed including the issue of waste disposal and the question of where power will come from in their future.

As another nuclear power plant closed this week, the United States faced a dwindling fleet of aging reactors, few new projects, and the challenge of safely mothballing radioactive fuel for decades.

Almost all its nearly 100 remaining reactors will be more than 60 years old by 2050. Their owners will have to decide whether the investments needed to keep them running are worth it, given the influx of cheap natural gas that has reshaped the U.S. energy economy.

So far, nuclear isn't winning. Vermont Yankee, which shut down Monday after 42 years of operation, is the fourth U.S. nuclear facility to close in two years. For the owners of each recent retiree—from Vermont Yankee to San Onofre in California, Kewaunee in Wisconsin, and Crystal River in Florida—the math just didn't work.

"When we looked at the cost of those improvements with what we projected as the cost of energy, the decision was that it would be better to shut the plant down," said Martin Cohn, spokesperson for Vermont Yankee's operator, Entergy.

[. . .]

Yankee generated 70 percent of Vermont's electricity, but the state will be able to replace that power through other regional sources. Still, the shutdown has broader implications for New England. The share of power coming from natural gas-fired plants there leaped from 15 percent in 2000 to 46 percent in 2013, according to a recent report from regional grid operator New England ISO, which works to ensure reliability.

"The ISO is concerned about the amount of non-gas generators retiring, because it also increases the region's dependence on natural gas-fired generation," said spokeswoman Lacey Girard, noting that demand for natural gas has expanded faster than the pipeline capacity to deliver it. "It is a challenge for the region."