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Andris Piebalgs: Nuclear and the EU's Energy Policy | 51 comments (51 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Nuclear (4.00 / 2)
Private companies can do nuclear, there are many examples of it. There are also many examples of state-run companies managing nuclear in a good way.

The difference between a good nuclear company and a bad one is not dependent on the state owning it or not.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 03:09:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What matters (4.00 / 5)
is the cost of nuclear, which is much lower iff the discount rate is lower.

and the fact that the State will ALWAYS carry the ultimate responsibility (and price tag) for any catastrophic accident, and for long term waste storage and management.

The market is unable to price these subsidies properly, so the State should take the upside as well as the downside.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 04:23:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: What matters (none / 0)
The capital cost is indeed crucial. But extremely solid power companies with decade-spanning relations with their banks also get really cheap credit. After all, all our nuclear power plants weren't financed by the state and they worked out very well too.

(It doesn't hurt when the people ordering the plant are the same as the ones who own the company that designed it, the company that builds it and the bank that financed it.)

The state carries ultimate responsibility for a lot of things it doesn't own (airlines, pharmaceuticals etc etc).

Long term storage in Sweden is both run and financed (partly) by a private  (not-for-profit) company (which also does some for-profit international consulting).

I have no problem at all with state ownership in power generation, but if private companies can add value while maintaing standards, then I'm the first to welcome then.

I still don't think a deregulated power market is a good idea though, I think it's a disaster.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 07:12:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Security is the state's responsibility, (none / 1)
both ultimately and day-to-day. And, as Jerome points out, waste disposal ends up in the state's lap, as well. Let's just cut out the middleman - and I use the word advisedly as they are not entrepreneurs in any sense of the word - in some cases. Energy - particularly nuclear-based energy generation - is a clear-cut case in this regard. Without a broad, public debate and stake in energy, we get petroleum-until-it-runs-out, then coal-until-we-choke-on-the-acid-rain; we get Enron and Exxon; and we get TV ads telling us how 'green' they all are.

Governments are not cure-alls, but the current debacles are primarily brought to us by the Exxons of the world - including their unhealthy level of control of some governments. Time to swing the pendulum; the trick will be to keep and enlarge the democratic components of the process.

paul spencer

by paul spencer (paulgspencer@gmail.com) on Wed May 21st, 2008 at 02:56:33 PM EST
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Andris Piebalgs: Nuclear and the EU's Energy Policy | 51 comments (51 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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