Nuclear Reactor Cost Expert Mark Cooper: EIA Report Officially Bursts 'Nuclear Bubble' in the U.S.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Mark Cooper, senior research fellow for economic analysis at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, issued the following statement today in the wake of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) presentation of the early release reference case for the 2011 Annual Energy Outlook:

"The U.S. Energy Information Administration has officially burst the nuclear bubble. They have admitted that the nuclear industry will be a permanent ward of the state. 

The EIA has tripled its previous estimates of projected construction costs, reduced the number of reactors that might be built by 25 percent, and stated that the five reactors they expect to be built in the next century would be entirely the result of subsidies in the form of production tax credits and loan guarantees. 

This makes it entirely clear it is a huge mistake to continue to pump money into dead-end technology.  This just reinforces what I've been saying for years – nuclear power is uneconomic.  Additionally, the demand is not there. 

The future is now officially bleaker than ever for nuclear."

SOURCE Dr. Mark Cooper, senior research fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School