Cheap natural gas could do what the worst commercial nuclear power accident in the United States' history could not: put Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island power plant out of business. Unless a bailout is approved.
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The owner of Three Mile Island, Exelon Corp., announced that the nuclear plant that was the site of a terrifying partial meltdown in 1979 would close in 2019, unless the state of Pennsylvania came to its financial rescue.
Back in March 1979, equipment failure and operator errors led to a partial core meltdown of Unit 2, leading to several days of fear and prompting 144,000 people to flee their homes amid conflicting information from utility and government officials.
But that didn't prevent the nuclear power station from providing electricity to the regional grid for decades to come.
In recent years, though, nuclear plants across the US have been struggling to compete with generating stations that burn plentiful and inexpensive natural gas to produce electricity.
Financial support yes or no?
Three Mile Island executives said they wanted Pennsylvania to give nuclear power the kind of preferential treatment and premium payments that were extended to renewable forms of energy such as wind or solar.
Exelon said Three Mile Island had experienced more than five years of losses at the single-reactor plant and recently failed to be selected as a guaranteed supplier of power to the regional grid.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has not made any commitment to a bailout scheme. But he did say that he was concerned about layoffs. Exelon employs 675 people at the plant.
The president of the Pittsburgh-based consumer group Citizen Power, David Hughes, thinks little of a financial aid package for the plant, saying the notion that nuclear power is clean energy as the industry argues is laughable.
"It's a myth, and they're trying any way they can to get more money out of ratepayers," he said in a statement.
Does nuclear power have a future?
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster released radiation across Ukraine, Russia and into Europe. It was turning point for the anti-nuclear movement. Now, 31 years later, is nuclear power becoming a thing of the past?
Image: Kerry Skyring
Deadly disaster
The worst nuclear disaster of all time, the explosion at Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine released massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Areas close to the plant - in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia - were heavily contaminated. Heightened levels of radiation were also measured across most of Europe. The "exclusion zone" around Chernobyl remains off-limits to human habitation today.
Image: picture-alliance/ dpa
It happens again
After a magnitude-9 earthquake and consequent tsunami, three nuclear reactors at Fukushima power plant in Japan went into meltdown in March 2011. There were also four hydrogen explosions. The accident released 500 times as much radioactive cesium-137 as the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The clean-up is expected to take decades.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Sickening impact
After Chernobyl, thousands of people developed cancer. In Japan too, the heavily contaminated region of Fukushima, where 200,000 people lost their homes, saw cases of the disease escalate. The number of children with thyroid cancer there is 20 times higher than other regions.
Image: Reuters
Rallying against nuclear power
Chernobyl fueled public opposition to nuclear power, particularly in Europe. The same happened after Fukushima. Before the Japanese disaster, the country relied on nuclear for 30 percent of its power. That has fallen to 1 percent. The government wants to continue producing nuclear power and plans to reinstall some reactors. But affected regions have successfully pushed back those plans.
Image: REUTERS
Nuclear industry in crisis
Today, the nuclear power sector is deep in economic crisis. In Japan, the United States and France, nuclear power plants run at a loss, and construction projects for new reactors have been postponed.
Image: Reuters
New-build set-backs
France had high hopes for its newest nuclear reactors - called pressurized water reactors (PWRs). This technology was supposed to be safe, and the Flamanville power plant was due to be switched on in 2012. Due to security issues, that's been pushed back to 2018 at the earliest. The project will cost more than 10 billion euros - three times the original budget.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Triballeau
Great Britain plans new reactors
For years, the UK has been planning to build two new PWR reactors at Hinkley Point. Costs are estimated at 33 billion euros and groundbreaking is slated for 2019. But doubts are growing over its economic viability. The electricity it produces will be much pricier than solar or wind power, and will need subsidies to compete in the market.
Image: Getty Images/J. Tallis
Aging reactors up for grabs
Nuclear power plants used to be lucrative. But now, many are old and frail. Repair costs often mean they cannot turn a profit. Swiss energy corporation Alpiq recently tried to give away two of its old plants, 33 and 38 years old, to French energy company EDF - which declined the offer.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Seeger
Disasters abroad prompt German phase-out
Three decades ago, the Chernobyl disaster galvanized Germany's anti-nuclear movement, which is often cited as the roots of the country's energy transition. In 2002, Germany passed a law that would have seen the last reactor shut down in 2022. The plan was later scrapped by Angela Merkel's government. But after Fukushima, Merkel quickly reversed her decision and the phase-out was back on track.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Ebener
Switching them off
So far, nine of Germany's reactors have gone offline, with eight more to follow by 2022. To finance the costs of nuclear waste disposal, plant operators must pay 23.6 billion euros into a federal fund. The operators themselves are responsible for the similarly costly process of dismantling the plants, which will take decades to complete.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Ebener
Growing fear of accidents
Across the EU and Switzerland 132 nuclear reactors are still online. They were designed to operate for 30 to 35 years - their average age is now 32 years. Malfunctions and security issues are frequently detected and protestors are increasingly calling for plants to be shut down.
Image: DW/G. Rueter
China pushes on with nuclear
No new nuclear power plants have been built in the EU, Japan or Russia since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. China remains committed to nuclear, partly to replace coal-based power. But the country is also upping investment in wind and solar.