Nuclear Power Deal is a Big Step in the Wrong Direction

Published Thursday, November 29, 2012 12:10 am

by Dennis Maley

This week, the state Public Service Commission approved nearly $300 million in rate increases that will essentially force Floridians to pre-fund the future costs of upgrading nuclear power facilities, and even pay for future ones that might be built. The decision came on the heels of more bad news from climate scientists on the rapid pace of climate change, none of which altered the United States' position regarding how little it is willing to contribute toward solving the great challenge of our time. The events read as a pretty clear sign that it's business as usual here in America. Namely: if the solution to a problem doesn't benefit a special interest, then that problem doesn't exist.

Florida's two largest electric utilities gained approval on Monday to charge customers $294 million in 2012, ostensibly to offset future costs of nuclear energy. The five-member Public Service Commission unanimously approved rate requests from Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy Florida. FPL's $151 million will amount to 51 cents less than this year's "nuclear cost recovery charge," but Progress' $143 million will increase the current charge by $1.93 for a 1,000-kilowatt hour customer, to $4.79 per month.

Nuclear plants are the only utility that get to pass on costs to customers before facilities are operational. Because utilities are (and I would argue must be) a regulated industry, such investments are by nature a tax on everyone who uses electricity, which is to say everyone. Taxes are the most effective way to encourage or discourage behavior, and the nuclear industry is clearly being incentivized in this fashion. That seems like a misguided approach. It has never been more clear that the world must move at a breakneck pace toward alternative energy sources that are viable in the long term. Proponents of nuclear argue that the low carbon output of a properly functioning plant make it a suitable fuel for our climate challenged future, but a closer look reveals such logic to be deeply flawed.

As TBT environmental reporter John Rehill explained in an excellent series on the true cost of nuclear energy, the root-to-fruit carbon footprint of nuclear power is massive. From the production of unthinkable amounts of concrete required to construct the plant, to the uranium mining and production, tens of thousands of CO2-consuming acres are often deforested before a plant is even constructed. In addition to carbon concerns, there's the age-old problem of dealing with an incredibly hazardous byproduct. On average, each plant produces 30 tons of high-level radioactive waste annually. With a half-life of thousands of years, the problem of storing the spent fuel rods is a serious one that we pass on to future generations in an expense that is not factored into the proposed cost of the plant.