The future of President Barack Obama’s plans to redesign the U.S. energy system with low- emission nuclear plants may hinge on reactors across the Pacific Ocean as Japan’s nuclear disaster renews a debate about the safety of plants in America.
As engineers battle to prevent a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power station crippled last week by a tsunami and the 9.0 magnitude temblor off Japan’s coast, San Francisco-based PG&E Corp. (PCG)’s Diablo Canyon seaside nuclear plant in earthquake- prone California may be one of the first in the U.S. to face closer scrutiny stemming from the disaster.
“Nuclear, long term, will be decided over the next couple of weeks,” said Abel Mojica, who manages energy-related limited partnerships at Tortoise Capital Advisors in Leawood, Kansas. “If there are decisions after the post mortem, that there are additional safety features required, that could add to costs.”
Obama’s energy plan relies heavily on nuclear power to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions harmful to the climate as well as to reduce dependence on imported oil. The president proposed […]
Continue reading at “Quake-Prone Pacific Plants May Hold Keys to U.S. Nuclear Plans“.
