{"id":336117,"date":"2024-07-11T07:46:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T05:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336117"},"modified":"2024-07-11T07:46:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T05:46:45","slug":"a-permanent-subsidy-nuclear-powers-price-anderson-act-5-extensions-89-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336117","title":{"rendered":"A Permanent Subsidy? Nuclear Power\u2019s Price-Anderson Act (5 Extensions, 89 years)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe infant industry argument is a smoke screen,\u201d wrote Milton and Rose Friedman in their 1979 classic, Free to Choose<\/em>. \u201cThe so-called infants never grow up.\u201d And several years later, the two wrote: \u201cNothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.\u201d [1]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous posts have documented the \u201cpermanent subsidies\u201d of industrial wind power<\/a> (14 extensions) and of solar power<\/a> (15 extensions). [2] <\/strong>Add nuclear liability protection to this list, although the technology has long been declared safe by the industry and its proponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act of 1957<\/strong> became law as Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954<\/a>. It was supposed to be a ten-year window to allow commercial nuclear power to prove its economy and safety. But the so-called Price-Anderson Act\u2013capping damage claims \u201cto protect the public and to encourage the development of the atomic energy industry\u201d\u2013is still with us, some two-thirds of a century later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1957 law\u2019s limit of $60 million per plant (about 10x in today\u2019s dollars) was joined by an up-to-$500 million indemnification guarantee per accident. These provisions, vetted among the beneficiaries, was just enough to remove a major barrier to the commercialization of nuclear power for electric utilities sponsors and for builders Westinghouse, GE, and others. Rate base incentives for utilities was also crucial for the new energy industry to compete against coal and hydro for electrical generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No payouts resulted in the ten-year period, but the private sector was not ready to stand on its own. The involved parties lobbied for $100 million per accident, which became $74 million in a 10-year extension in 1966<\/strong>, a small increase in real terms. This first extension would not be the last\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsidy enough? Nope, the second extension<\/strong> came in 1975 (for 12 years); the third in 1988<\/strong> (20 years, with the cap increased from $500 million to $9.43 billion); the fourth in 2005 (20 years)<\/strong>; and fifth in 2024 (40 years, to 2066)<\/strong>. [3]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surely, nearly 70 years after the initial \u201ctemporary\u201d law, the nuclear industry could have repealed Price-Anderson and let the private insurance market sort things out. Commercial nuclear power is safe, right? Claims under Price-Anderson have been small or none<\/a>. The collected $13 billion <\/a>would ensure a smooth transition to the private market. Safer units should not subsidize the less safe, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wrong!<\/strong><\/em> The nuclear industry needed to remove 2025, and last year the talk was for a decade, maybe 20 years. And the industry got more under favorable political circumstances. The result: 40 years\u2013to 2065<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongress\u2019s 40-year extension of a law limiting how much money nuclear power companies are on the hook for prompted sighs of relief from the industry and supporters of the measure,\u201d The Hill<\/em> reported<\/a>, \u201cwho say the liability limit provides certainty for insurers and investors in the carbon-free power source.\u201d To critics, the sweetheart subsidy was done in darkness<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/strong> Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose<\/em>, p. 49; Tyranny of the Status Quo<\/em>, p. 115.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/strong> The tax credit for wind temporarily expired (without retroactive true-up) for a brief period in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/strong> The extensions of the Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act of 1957<\/strong> (Public Law 85-256, 71 Stat. 576<\/a>) have been:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1966<\/strong> (Public Law 89-645, 80 Stat. 891<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1975<\/strong> (Public Law 94-197, 89 Stat 1111<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988<\/strong> (Public Law 100-408, 102 Stat. 1066<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 2005<\/strong>, Public Law 109-58, 119 Stat. 594)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024<\/strong>, S.870<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe infant industry argument is a smoke screen,\u201d wrote Milton and Rose Friedman in their 1979 classic, Free to Choose. \u201cThe so-called infants never grow up.\u201d And several years later, the two wrote: \u201cNothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":336120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691829042,691818206,691829638],"class_list":{"0":"post-336117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-industrial-wind-power","9":"tag-nuclear-power","10":"tag-permanent-subsidies","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1999%2C1138&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1prf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":253638,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253638","url_meta":{"origin":336117,"position":0},"title":"Solar Optimism and Coal Alarmism a Century Ago","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Energy history brings perspective and caution to the real-world prospects of dilute, intermittent energies becoming 21st century mainstays. 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