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Between 2007 and 2009, 13 companies applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for construction and operating licenses to build 30 new nuclear power reactors in the United States. However, the case for widespread nuclear plant construction was eroded due to abundant natural gas supplies, slow electricity demand growth in a weak US economy, lack of financing, and uncertainty following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.〔 Many license applications for proposed new reactors were suspended or cancelled.〔Eileen O'Grady. (Entergy says nuclear remains costly ) ''Reuters'', May 25, 2010.〕〔Terry Ganey. (AmerenUE pulls plug on project ) ''Columbia Daily Tribune'', April 23, 2009.〕 Only a few new reactors will enter service by 2020. These will not be the cheapest energy options available, but they are an attractive investment for utilities because the government mandates that electric power customers pay for construction in advance. In 2013, four aging, uncompetitive, reactors were permanently closed: San Onofre 2 and 3 in California, Crystal River 3 in Florida, and Kewaunee in Wisconsin. Vermont Yankee, in Vernon, is closed on Dec. 29, 2014, following many protests. New York State is seeking to close Indian Point Energy Center, in Buchanan, 30 miles from New York City.〔 Exelon mulls the closures of Clinton, Quad Cities and Byron while its Ginna Nuclear Generating Station will receive ratepayer subsidy through 2018 when it is likely to be closed. Its Oyster Creek and Three Mile Island facilities didn't clear capacity auctions and will run through 2018. Entergy mulls the closure of FitzPatrick and Pilgrim due to tough market situations and necessary repairs. Neither climate change abatement, nor the Obama Administration’s endorsement of nuclear power with $18.5 billion in loan guarantees, have been able to propel nuclear power in the US past existing obstacles. The Fukushima nuclear disaster has also delayed plans for the construction of new plants in the nation.〔Sovacool, BK and SV Valentine. ''(The National Politics of Nuclear Power: Economics, Security, and Governance )'' (London: Routledge, 2012), p. 82.〕 ==Overview== The Energy Policy Act of 2005, offered the nuclear power industry many financial incentives and economic subsidies that, according to economist John Quiggin, the "developers of wind and solar power could only dream of". The Act provides substantial loan guarantees, cost-overrun support of up to $2 billion total for multiple new nuclear power plants, and the extension of the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act through to 2025. This extensive policy support was widely seen as a forerunner to a "nuclear renaissance" in the United States, with dozens of new plants being announced. However, many license applications filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for proposed new reactors were suspended or cancelled.〔〔 As of February 2014, plans for about 30 new reactors in the United States have translated into five reactors beginning construction. These include Virgil C. Summers Units 2 and 3, Vogtle units 3 and 4 and Watts Bar, in Tennessee, which was begun in 1973, but is running over budget and behind schedule and may now be completed in December 2015.〔http://www.nei.org/Issues-Policy/New-Nuclear-Energy-Facilities/Building-New-Nuclear-Facilities〕〔Matthew L. Wald (December 7, 2010). (Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ Is Short on Largess ) ''The New York Times''.〕 Matthew Wald from the ''New York Times'' has reported that "the nuclear renaissance is looking small and slow". In 2008, the Energy Information Administration projected almost 17 gigawatts of new nuclear power reactors by 2030, but in its 2011 projections, it "scaled back the 2030 projection to just five". A survey conducted in April 2011 found that 64 percent of Americans opposed the construction of new nuclear reactors. A survey sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute, conducted in September 2011, found that "62 percent of respondents said they favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States, with 35 percent opposed".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americans-support-for-nuclear-energy-holds-at-majority-level-6-months-after-japan-accident-130981293.html )〕 As of December 2011, construction by Southern Company on two new nuclear units has begun, and they are expected to be delivering commercial power by 2016 and 2017.〔http://www.southerncompany.com/nuclearenergy/construction.aspx〕〔http://www.southerncompany.com/nuclearenergy/southern_nuclear.aspx〕 But, looking ahead, experts see continuing challenges that will make it very difficult for the nuclear power industry to expand beyond a small handful of reactor projects that "government agencies decide to subsidize by forcing taxpayers to assume the risk for the reactors and mandating that ratepayers pay for construction in advance". As of 2014, the U.S. nuclear industry began a new lobbying effort, hiring three former senators — Evan Bayh, a Democrat; Judd Gregg, a Republican; and Spencer Abraham, a Republican — as well as William M. Daley, a former staffer to President Obama. The initiative is called Nuclear Matters, and it has begun a newspaper advertising campaign. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nuclear renaissance in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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