What with all the uncontrolled natural gas leaks, the probably decreasing utility of hydropower as droughts become more frequent, the pollution caused by oil and coal, you would think nuclear would look more attractive. But these plants are ancient and it takes decades to get new ones built even if you get past the NIMBY factor, so I guess California is going all in with wind and solar.¹

PG&E to close Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear power plant • 2016 Jun 21 • Samantha Masunaga • Los Angeles Times

A total anti-nuclear stance in general might be unreasonable, but closing down plants that are 30-50 years old and showing signs of structural deterioration and/or are sitting near active faults is probably not totally crazy. I don’t think Southern California Edison had to raise their rates catastrophically when they shut down San Onofre—mostly because wind and solar do generate a lot of power now—but prices have definitely gone up.²

While I don’t doubt anti-science nuclear power fear-mongering had a chilling effect on building new plants in the late 20th century/early 21st century, I honestly think the moratorium was mostly financial in nature, because of utility deregulation. Power companies couldn’t just arbitrarily raise rates to cover the costs of building new plants because they’d just get undercut. But the lack of a waste disposal site is also probably a big factor.³

Why The Economics Don’t Favor Nuclear Power In America • 2014 Feb 20 • Mark Cooper • Forbes

Nuclear Dead End: It’s the Economics, Stupid • 2011 April 18 • Christian Parenti • The Nation