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JG:
What is the status of nuclear power in comparison to other forms of energy production?

AL:
Micropower has already walloped nuclear in the marketplace worldwide. In 2004, micropower—combined-heat-and-power plus decentralized renewable sources—added three times as much output and six times as much capacity as nuclear added, because it costs less and has much lower financial risk. In 2010, the respective industries expect these competitors to add about 160 times as much capacity as nuclear power adds. (These are the latest firm data, but are consistent with the 2005 data now coming in.) So the small, fast winners are financed by private capital, while the only buyers for nuclear plants worldwide are central planners. I don’t think people who claim to be proponents of liberalized markets and conservative politics should have any interest in what central planners choose in places like Communist China. Rather, they should pay attention to what free markets are choosing, which is quite the opposite.

This is also important for climate protection, because if climate is a problem, we need the most solution per dollar and the most solution per year. So if you buy a new reactor—about the most expensive option—you get much less solution (such as coal displacement) per dollar than if you bought micropower or, even cheaper, end-use efficiency. Those would give you roughly two to ten times more climate solution per dollar and would also do so faster. They have greater ultimate potential. They are more reliable and resilient. And they are much more benign and politically acceptable. So on all counts, those are the most prudent solutions.

JG:
You have made comments that make it sound as if nuclear is falling out of favour and yet they are now discussing a $40 billion CAD investment into nuclear here in Ontario and further expansion throughout the US.

AL:
Who is ‘they’? In the case of Ontario it is the provincial government, which under your legal system can have about as many reactors as the government is willing to pay for. But I don’t think you will find private capitalists wanting to put their money at risk in such a venture subject to competition in the marketplace.