Yesterday, the Obama administration announced its plans to guarantee an $8.3 billion loan to build the first nuclear reactors in three decades. The new initiative is not without its opponents. I think the move is a smart one and defended the effort on a few tv/radio shows since the announcement. Opponents have three common arguments that I think are worth examining, because I don't think they hold up.
50% Probability Of Default
Possibly the strongest-sounding argument against the government guaranteeing nuclear reactor loans comes from a Congressional Budget Office report (.pdf) from back in 2003. It found a 50% probability of default from such loans. Nuclear energy opponents love this finding. After all, a bipartisan Congressional budget authority says it's a bad bet! But it helps to actually read the report and not consider the statistic in a vacuum.
Read More...
No comments:
Post a Comment