What will Japan’s recent experience with nuclear plants mean for the future of nuclear power generation in the United States?
Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers discusses the topic in the latest Bloomberg Businessweek.
What impact will Japan have on the global nuclear renaissance? I don’t believe it will slow it down. First, the nuclear renaissance is occurring around the world. There are 61 different reactors being built outside the U.S. Ironically, we aren’t participating in that nuclear renaissance yet. We really only have two power plants that are in the early stages of being developed, and two companies have started site preparation and other construction activities to build new plants, one in Georgia and one in South Carolina. I think it’s ironic that we’re not participating, but I don’t believe it will slow down as a consequence of the Japanese event.
Why hasn’t the U.S. been playing a part in this? That’s a tough question. I think that—notwithstanding 30 years of safe operations—the Three Mile Island incident still kind of hangs over the future. However, I do believe we’re just beginning the renaissance in this country. There’s a line of construction operating licenses waiting to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Seventy percent of our carbon-free electricity comes from those 104 units in the U.S. As we look out 20 years from now, we will start to retire that nuclear fleet, and we need to start building now, not only to meet the growth in demand but also because we foresee that a significant number of old coal plants will be retired as a result of environmental regulations—and that as a consequence we’re going to have to replace them. In the longer term, we’re going to need nuclear power. It’s really the only technology today that provides electricity 24/7 with zero greenhouse gas emissions.
