Message to MPPs: insist that nuclear pay its own way
Report finds faults in the business case for nuclear power
AWARE Simcoe December 8 2011
Ontario MPPs have reeived a report questioning the business rationale for spending tax dollars to cushion nuclear plants from economic burdens that other industries have to cover from their own funds.
The report, by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, looks at how the nuclear industry drove Ontario Hydro into bankruptcy while delivering no nuclear plants on time or on budget.
Heavy subsidies for conventional energy convey an unfair competitive advantage and are the biggest challenge facing a more integrated, distributed and sustainable energy system, the OSEA says.
The report also:
-argues against any formal allocation of market share (as presently proposed) to nuclear generation because it shrinks opportunity for renewables.
-points to the “token” sale price of AECL for $15 million to SNC-Lavalin as evidence that “vast taxpayer subsidies were not enough to make nuclear competitive.”
-itemizes the subsidies the public provides for insurance, research and development, assumption of financial risk, plus financing, land and infrastructure.
-details the adverse economic implications of the positive void reactivity issue that prevents CANDU reactors from being approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the United States.
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