Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts-Bar-2 nuke is operational: winning the battle, but losing the war. The 1,270 MW Watts-Bar-2 nuclear reactor is the nation’s first new nuclear power plant since 1996.  Construction was originally began in 1973, but was halted in 1985.  The project was restarted in October 2007, and cost $4.7 billion to complete this year.  By comparison, new capacity of 1,088 MW in the single month of October from solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower nearly matched what it took the nuclear industry over 20 years to bring online.  The TVA could have used that time and money more productively on developing renewables and energy efficiency.  In those 20 years, construction costs for solar and wind have plunged by 60-70%.  According to Ken Bossing of the Sun Day Campaign, “The long construction times to bring new nuclear reactors on line, and nuclear power’s rapidly rising costs (compared to the dramatically declining costs for renewable sources) all underscore that the nuclear era is over”.  Read more at – Watts-Bar-2 Nuke: Wind & Solar Power is 21 Times Greater.
We suggest readers avail themselves of the following sources for news on the demise of nuclear power: Japan for Sustainability, Japan Focus, Fukushima Update, and Fairewinds Energy Education.