$6 BILLION BAILOUT: Infrastructure deal to subsidize old reactors

"Burning Money," graphic by Gene Case/Avenging Angels, which appeared on the cover of The Nation in 2003, accompanying an article about the nuclear power relapse, authored by Christian ParentiBloomberg reports the bipartisan U.S. Senate infrastructure bill includes $6 billion in taxpayer subsidies for dangerously degraded reactors. Exelon reactors in Illinois -- at Byron and Dresden -- reportedly qualify. Dresden Units 2 and 3 are more than a half-century old, and of the same design as the reactors that melted down at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan. Byron's work culture is so toxic, it has reportedly driven some control room operators to commit suicide. Energy Harbor (formerly FirstEnergy) reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania also reportedly qualify. This includes Davis-Besse near Toledo (which has had many close calls with catastrophe, and a severely cracked containment), Perry near Cleveland (on a faultline), and Beaver Valley west of Pittsburgh (Unit 1 is severely embrittled).

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