By 2017, Duke Energy had squandered billions of dollars and 13 years failing to license and build experimental nuclear reactors they had insisted would avoid the massive construction failures of the 1970s. Now, Duke is seeking approval of a carbon plan with a different type of experimental reactor – with unfinished design and already-soaring costs – and proposes to build dozens of them in the Carolinas alone.
Nuclear Power
Since the early 1990s, NC WARN has watch-dogged the state’s nuclear power industry over its “low-level” and high-level waste practices, along with reactor safety and security issues.
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Should NC’s clean energy future include more nuclear power? Duke Energy thinks so — USA Today Network
“Duke Energy has already dragged us through this horror movie, and we can’t let them do it again,” Warren said, referring to the utility’s own efforts to build additional big nuclear plants earlier this century.
Speak out Against More Giant Rate Hikes for Dirty Power — Alert from NC WARN
Do you think you should pay for Duke Energy’s coal ash cleanup and for nuclear plants that will never be built? 150 turned out to say no at a public hearing in Raleigh on Duke Energy-Progress’s nearly 17% residential rate hike request (see news reports here). If you agree with them, come speak out at the Asheville, Snow Hill or Wilmington hearing (details here and here).
Duke Energy’s Nuclear Boondoggle: Cancellation After Tragic Delay – NC WARN News Release
As the US nuclear “renaissance” collapses, we urge CEOs to turn hard toward climate protection
Duke Energy abandons plans to build the Lee Nuclear Station — Charlotte Business Journal
Duke Energy Carolinas wants to cancel its planned Lee Nuclear Station and will ask regulators to allow it to recover at least $368 million in planning and pre-construction costs from N.C. customers.
Duke Energy’s Nuclear Hopes Dim Further — NC WARN News Release
North Carolina regulators technically rejected NC WARN’s March motion on Monday but they pressed Duke Energy with the questions we raised about the viability of the effort to build twin nuclear plants in Gaffney, SC.
Two good stories on the NCUC order:
Associated Press
Charlotte Business Journal
Pull the Plug on Duke’s Nuclear Boondoggle — NC WARN News Release
Today NC WARN called for state regulators to disallow any further spending by Duke Energy on two proposed reactors now that its 13-year odyssey is off the rails following the recent collapse of the Toshiba-Westinghouse nuclear division.
Duke Energy Executives Count on Climate-Wrecking Fracked Gas & Captive Regulators – but Little Solar or Wind – for Years to Come — News Release from NC WARN
If the NC Utilities Commission approves Duke Energy’s latest 15-year Integrated Resource Plan, it risks bankrupting North Carolina’s economy through costly overbuilding of high-risk power plants. And the utility will continue fouling our air and water while escalating the global climate crisis as one of the world’s largest carbon polluters.
Jim Warren: First, renewables; later, nuclear retirement — The News & Observer
Op-Ed by Jim Warren. The climate responds quickly to methane, so reducing emissions can slow global warming in the short term. North Carolinians must require Duke Energy to stop its massive fracked gas expansion and help avoid climate chaos.
Lawsuit targets Duke Energy Florida, FPL over higher rates for nuclear power projects — Tampa Bay Times
A class-action lawsuit was filed against Duke Energy Florida and Florida Power & Light Co. alleging the monopoly electricity providers force millions of Florida customers to pay unlawful charges in connection with their electricity rates to fund the companies’ nuclear power plant projects, some of which have been abandoned. The suit … accuses Duke Energy Florida and FPL of overcharging through unconstitutional price hikes that increase customers’ electricity bills in order to fund nuclear construction costs.