We can't even build nuks anymore

[Glenn W]

We all know what happened to the American dominance in electronics in the '70's and '80's

We painfully have seen what has happened to our automobile manufacturing businesses.

Another bastion of American pride was at one time our ability to build nuclear power plants with American Companies.

Currently there are 24 new nuclear units with approved NRC applications to build new nuks (this doesn't mean they all will be built, it simply means the NRC has approved plans and contractors, should the utilities decide to go ahead and build them).
Of these 24 units only 6 are for an American company nuclear unit--- these 6 are General Electric Nuclear Units. The remaining 18 units that "won" the bids from the utilites are Japanese (14) and French (4)
the 24 approved units are:
Westinghouse (owned by Toshiba) 12
Mitsubishi 2
Areva (France) 4
Gen'l elect 6

Oh well, another source of Amercian pride that has been "out sourced"

[Hatterized]

Glenn....surprisingly i am in agreement with you...not many facets of American manufacturing are solely US anymore.....

the continued outsourcing provides for other countries and depletes are own....

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Glenn....surprisingly i am in agreement with you...not many facets of American manufacturing are solely US anymore.....

the continued outsourcing provides for other countries and depletes are own....

I'm checking the thermostat and reloading all the guns

Mike

[Barefootin]

My dad was a leading scientist on building the first nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge back in 56. The technology has not evolved in the US much since then. The oil & electrical utilitiy company lobbyists have owned the politicians and ensured that the technology would not hinder their profits. All of our nuke plants utilize technology that is at least 30 years old.
Our leading scientists went abroad to build state of the art plants while the US has has sat back with their fingers up their keisters due to politics & lobbyists.

[Glenn W]

My dad was a leading scientist on building the first nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge back in 56. The technology has not evolved in the US much since then. The oil & electrical utilitiy company lobbyists have owned the politicians and ensured that the technology would not hinder their profits. All of our nuke plants utilize technology that is at least 30 years old.
Our leading scientists went abroad to build state of the art plants while the US has has sat back with their fingers up their keisters due to politics & lobbyists.

Very interesting about your dad, I'd enjoy hearing more about his work @ Oak Ridge sometime. In any event, I need to clarify a couple of your statements.
I'm teetering very close on a topic that I cannot get involved in on a public internet forum, but even though I agree that the Utility industry has "owned" law makers since the mid ninety's, the lack of new nuclear power in the U.S. is an indirect result of the Grand FAILED experiment of electric competition (remember Enron, California blackouts and price gouging, the doubling of rates in Md and De, etc ?)
What really happened is that as a result of the wide spread move to de-regulating electric generation in the mid to late '90's, utilities could make pleanty of money by building fairly inexpensive gas fired generators. The risks associated with building a nuk are astronomical--- remember Seabrook and Shoreham? No prudent investor (utility) would put $4 to $8 billion on the line given the risks of building and operating a nuk in those risky and unstable markets.
Consumers and American society are the clear losers in this grand failed experiment. Fortunatly, we are seeing a reversal of this as more and more states are going back to the traditional model of regulated electricity sales for generation. This movement back to the way things worked so well for so many decades has bought back what is known as a "regulatory compact" and significantly reduces the risk associated with building nuclear units.
Unfortunatly, utilities have recently swayed law makers that they now need additional profit kickers associated with building new electric generation due to the loss of regulatory compacts in the '90's and 2000's. As a result, our electric prices will be much higher than they should be in the not to distant future. Another, and perhaps better approach is being used by at least one utility.
Southern Company recently secured over $8 Billion in Government loan guarantees if it decides to build new nuks. Quite frankly, this is a good move for America. If regulators hold up their end of the bargan, and utilities build these units in a competent manner, it will not cost tax payers a nickle.

Oh well, I'm derailing my own thread here and getting way off topic.

[JD5652]

Just like everything else.....we outsourced our nuclear power technology in the 1980's when the politicians seized on TMI and stopped nuclear power construction in this country. We sent the technology to the likes of Taiwan, Korea......and yes even communist China.....guess we shouldn't be surprised....