Nuclear utilities beg for bailouts to avert reactor shutdowns, Obama administration appears amenable

In a pair of articles, E&E's Hannah Northey reports that nuclear utility giants such as Exelon and Entergy are lobbying hard for changes to electricity marketplace rules that would enable them to keep uncompetitive atomic reactors operating. For its part, the Obama Dept. of Energy appears poised to do all it can to prop up its favorite dirty, dangerous, and expensive energy industry.

Northey quotes an Exelon spokesman as admitting not just Quad Cities (two reactors) and Clinton (one reactor) in IL are at risk of near-term shutdown, but a total of five reactors altogether, although he would not specify the other two.

Northey also quotes an Entergy official, who compares the risk of numerous additional near-term atomic reactor meltdowns to driving off a cliff.

Exelon considers closing two GE BWR Mark Is in IL

As reported by Crain's Chicago Business, Exelon -- the largest nuclear utility in the U.S. -- is considering shuttering its Quad Cities nuclear power plant, because it cannot compete on the wholesale electricity market. Quad Cities consists of two General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4.

At the same time, Exelon is considering permanently closing its single unit Clinton nuclear power plant -- a GE BWR Mark III. A decade ago, Exelon was riding high at Clinton -- recipient of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rubber-stamp support for an "Early Site Permit" for a proposed new reactor at the site.

The Chicago Tribune has also reported on this story.

Westinghouse scraps Small “Marketless” Reactors

Westinghouse is scrapping a multi-million dollar and decade long investment in new Small Modular Reactors (SMR).  Company officials admit that there is no market for the foreseeable future for assembly line nukes.

Westinghouse had advertised its 225 MWe Small Modular Reactor (SMR) as simplified, passively safe and secure. Rather than typically build one behemoth power reactor, new individual reactor modules were to be added onto to the same control room and plugged into the turbo-generator-transmission system, shortening construction times and compartmentalizing the financial risk. Eventually, Westinghouse figured out that there are so few customers at the end of such an assembly line that it makes no economic sense to build the factory. Since the Department of Energy has snubbed Westinghouse twice now for federal taxpayer money, Westinghouse wasn’t willing to financially risk their own money.

The announcement comes as no surprise. Forbes reported nearly two years ago that the new mini-nuclear power plants were already priced out of the market. Additionally, with the nuclear industry still in the shadow of an unending Fukushima catastrophe, reactor safety design problems and regulatory failures make mini-nukes a challenge that Westinghouse admits it is not up to.