"Aging and Expensive, Reactors Face Mothballs"

The Kewaunee atomic reactor on Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shoreThe New York Times has reported on the economics that have not only led to the Kewaunee atomic reactor's (photo, left) announced closure in Wisconsin, but also other pressures and forces on reactors, from Entergy's Indian Point near New York City to Vermont Yankee, Duke's Crystal River in Florida, Exelon's Oyster Creek in New Jersey, and Southern California Edison's San Onofre. The article speaks of "[t]he industry’s renewed glimpse of its mortality" and states "the nuclear industry may be nearing its first round of retirements since the mid-1990s."  Kewaunee's closure will be the first at an American atomic reactor since several (Yankee Rowe, Massachusetts; Zion 1 & 2, Illinois; Big Rock Point, Michigan; Millstone Unit 1, Connecticut) in the mid to late 1990s. 

The article reports:

"The stress comes after a decade of remarkable stability for the nuclear fleet, which, contrary to the expectations of some of its opponents, has shown some signs of prosperous maturity. According to industry statistics, 71 [actually, the number is 73] reactors have received permission to operate up to 20 years beyond their initial 40-year operating licenses and the applications of 15 more are under review. Another 17 have announced their intention to seek renewal, leaving only one with unannounced intentions...

The industry’s renewed glimpse of its mortality comes as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working on the question of whether the existing plants can get a second 20-year extension, to age 80. But license extension may not be the problem. Wider economic circumstances may be instead."

In fact, Dominion Nuclear's announced Kewaunee's "retirement" when it could not find an interested buyer, despite NRC's rubberstamp of Kewaunee's 20 year license extension in 2011.