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NEIS
California![]()
The Samuel Lawrence Foundation...![]()
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We're suing the California Coastal Commission and Southern California Edison to protect people and the California Coast.⚖️![]()
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There is no plan B for radioactive waste stored at #SanOnofreNuclear. The Coastal Commission should have required a back up plan for the deadly material, while it is on-site, 100 feet from the ocean.![]()
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“We need the ability to replace storage canisters as they degrade from age or damage,” said Dr. Bart Ziegler. “The only available facility [at #SanOnofre] is the spent fuel pool and the Coastal Commission is permitting the utility to destroy it.”
Tonight![]()
Link to Zoom event: ![]()
us02web.zoom.us/j/7236028662?pwd=aWhYNWw0WEZiK0NKYnRoWCtoaC9zQT09
NEIS STATEMENT ON EXELON SPLIT![]()
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By David Kraft, Director, Nuclear Energy Information Service![]()
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Feb. 24, 2021![]()
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The announced Exelon split into a generation company (SpinCo) separate from a transmission/distribution utility (RemainCo) is currently short on details – where potential devils always reside. ![]()
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On the surface, it is welcome news to consumer advocates who have long pointed out and argued against the tacit conflict-of-interest or at times collusion that has existed between Exelon’s nuclear fleet division and utility ComEd. It would seem the new Exelon “RemainCo” company that would include ComEd is trying to put scandal-tainted distance between itself and its economically unviable “SpinCo” nuclear fleet, current seeking more bailouts from the Illinois legislature – possibly to make the latter more likely, or at least palatable and properly window-dressed to the Illinois Legislature and Governor Pritzker..![]()
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Obviously, Exelon is doing this to enhance and protect profitability, where its nuclear fleet has served as a drag requiring several artificial bailouts in several states where their reactors operate. When profitability falls, cost-cutting is one of the first methods to improve it. If the nuclear plants are unprofitable now, allegedly requiring bailouts, any further cost-cutting in the “SpinCo” could have serious safety implications, as staff and O&M funds become targets for reduction in spending. State legislators and governors dealing with energy legislation – as is currently occurring in Illinois – will need to be increasingly vigilant about this, since the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has become a rubber-stamp for the nuclear industry.![]()
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Exelon alleges its reactors to be uncompetitive now, requiring some form of state intervention to keep them running for which they repeatedly ask – and will continue to ask for as prices for renewables, efficiency and energy storage continue to drop, while overall O&M costs for aging reactors will rise over time. ![]()
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This must be juxtaposed with current nuclear industry and federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) intentions to explore operating reactors for up to 80 or 100 years (no joke) – far beyond their initial 40-year operating licenses. Will state legislators have to consider repeated bailout pleas for the next 40-60 years, repeating the “nuclear hostage crisis” scenario of threatened jobs and tax base loss if the nuclear plants aren’t further (perhaps endlessly) subsidized in some form?![]()
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Since 2013 NEIS has met with state legislators and officials, urging them to “plan for retirement” – before the nukes retire. We have advocated for establishing escrowed “just-transitions” funds for communities near both nuclear and fossil power plants (and mines). These funds would be available to soften the inevitable economic blow to local jobs, tax base and real estate values certain to occur when plants close. Zion Illinois is the poster child for this scenario. Eight years later, there is no legislation; unions have failed to champion “just-transitions” to protect their brothers and sisters future; and local governments still press for questionable and increasingly unlikely bailouts instead. Well, you’ll get the future you plan for.![]()
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On the other end of the spectrum from eternal subsidization is what happens when reactors inevitably close, which can happen for any of multiple reasons – all out of the control of local communities, unions, and state governments. Exelon’s “SpinCo” reactors have mandatory “decommissioning funds” set up to deal with the costs of the inevitable tear-downs of these reactor sites. Regrettably, both the amounts paid in to date and the actual formulas used by the NRC to calculate what that sufficient amount should be have been called into serious question over the years by the GAO, Congressional Budget Office and public interest groups. Now that the “SpinCo” is separate from the assets of Exelon, those questionably stocked funds are now the only means of paying for decommissioning. Should they be insufficient, “SpinCo” will not have a well-funding parent entity to turn to for supplemental funds. Who will end up paying for shortfalls? In all likelihood, ratepayers and state governments, as usual.![]()
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It would seem that this proposed split may therefore be a mixed blessing. As usual, it was done solely in the best financial interests of Exelon Corporation. The rest of us had better pay attention to the rest of the details as they emerge.![]()
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--David Kraft, Director, Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), Chicago