An article in the New York Times today looks at a growing support from officials in the United State for maintaining the nuclear power industry, mainly because they see the environmental benefits from keeping a non-greenhouse gas emitting power source online. In the United States, nuclear power plants provide 60 per cent on non-carbon producing electric power.
With US power plants aging, there are people in government and in the environmental movement who are pushing for government financial support to provide a bailout for the nuclear industry and keep the existing plants running.
US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is interviewed for the article and he states that “maintaining the nuclear fleet is really important for meeting our near-term and midterm goals.”
If there is a LENR emergence in the near future, I would expect the narrative to change quite a bit with regard to nuclear fission plants. But we are not there yet, so the focus of decision makers will likely remain on the nuclear technology that is already up and running.
The full New York Times article can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/business/energy-environment/nuclear-plants-despite-safety-concerns-gain-support-as-clean-energy-sources.html?_r=0
