How long before Wisconsin electricity customers regret loss of Kewaunee?

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After a number of discussions with people in positions close to the decision to destroy the Kewaunee nuclear power station, I am now about 98% sure that it will be shut down as currently scheduled in May of 2013. I am also about 95% sure that the decision will cost electricity customers in the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) grid a substantial quantity of money during the 20 years that the plant could have remained in operation.

About the only thing that can save the plant at this point is the arrival of a well-capitalized white knight who recognizes the value of a licensed nuclear power plant, 900 acres of surrounding land, and the potential for finding electricity customers that will pay a premium for predictable energy prices more than 1 year into the future. It might also help if the white knight is an out of the box thinker who realizes that nuclear reactors can do more than just produce electricity.
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Kewaunee closure announcement reinforces sense of deja vu

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It was a surprise to many of my pro nuclear friends, but Dominion’s recent announcement that it had decided to close its Kewaunee nuclear power plant was the almost inevitable result of current market and political conditions. The conditions bring back many memories of the mid 1990s, which were a rather dark time in my [...]

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CNN’s carefully timed attack on nuclear energy and NRC credibility

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Last night, CNN Presents aired a completely one sided and inaccurate portrayal of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. It extensively quoted both Arnie Gundersen and Bernie Sanders and included a staged interview that made the Nuclear Regulatory Commission look both incompetent and unresponsive. That episode is scheduled to be repeated tonight. Here is a [...]

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Journalism reviewer “frustrated” by AP series on nuclear plant aging issues

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The Columbia Journalism Review has published an article titled A Frustrating AP Series on Nuclear Safety that analyses the four part series of “investigative” reports published during June of 2011. Here is an example quote from the article: But the AP series, while it tackles a critically important public policy issue, suffers from lapses in [...]

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Nuclear professionals spent decades on seismic (earthquake) risk evaluations – effort continues

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The six months since Fukushima has brought out a certain class of professional worriers who ignore history to fret about topics that have already been the source of concern for many years. In this particular case, the worriers want to assert that nuclear power plants are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of earthquakes, which are [...]

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Update: One-woman crusade to save Zion nuclear power station heads to court

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It has been several months since I last reported on the efforts of Nancy Thorner, the Illinois resident who has been working diligently for several years to encourage Exelon to reconsider its 1998 decision to shut down the 22 year old (at the time) Zion nuclear power station. You can find links to previous articles [...]

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Miscommunications Are Frequent in Human Discourse – Sometimes They Become Intentional Weapons

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Morgan Lewis & Bockius has produced a report that concluded that Entergy employees did not lie or intend to mislead investigators. Several employees have been punished anyway and there is a chance that a reliable plant that produces more than $100 million worth of electricity per year without any greenhouse gas emissions will be shutdown [...]

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