Atomic Balm

it's very interesting (0.00 / 0)

The key bit is probably:

That means the industry, in a way, is in a race against time. Recently, Paul Joskow, a professor of economics at M.I.T., sent me a chart that looks ahead to the output of America’s reactors over the next half-century. As the current 103 nuclear reactors continue to generate electricity for the next few decades, the line on the chart remains mostly flat. But then the plants’ electricity production falls off a cliff. “I think this is the first time in many years, perhaps 20 years, that the combination of government policy, economic conditions and environmental constraints are reasonably favorable for nuclear,” Joskow told me. “If they can’t move forward now, it would be very difficult in the longer run.” It may even be more urgent than that. One conclusion to be derived from the chart is that nuclear power in this country is dying. Unless someone starts building soon, it will begin to disappear in 15 or 20 years, as one plant after another exhausts its operating permit and goes dark. And it will effectively be extinguished as an energy source by around 2050.

For those with deep misgivings about the safety and expense of nuclear plants, life without them may indeed be a cause for celebration. Yet their absence would probably pose tremendous challenges for the United States. The first is where 20 percent of our power would come from; the second is whether a substitute fuel for that power would emit carbon dioxide

Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

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by: Hopeful @ Sun Jul 23, 2006 at 06:03:18 AM UTC

A diary needs to be more than this... (4.00 / 1)

Diaries should be more than just a link to an interesting article.  They should provide some sort of commentary or analysis.  Links to news articles that you think others should read are more appropriate for the comments section of one of the news roundup posts.

I'm not trying to be harsh here - just trying to make BlueJersey remain the top-notch blog we know that it is.

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by: PocketAces @ Mon Jul 24, 2006 at 04:54:32 AM UTC