Surviving Capitalism (Not) : After 60 years of nuclear power, the industry survives only on stupendous subsidies

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, January 10, 2016

After 60 years of nuclear power, the industry survives only on stupendous subsidies

Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from the Ecologist.

The entire industry would not exist without massive government subsidies. Quite an insult: Subsidies prop up an industry that points a dagger at the heart of the communities where ever it operates.

The building of nuclear power plants drastically slowed after the disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, so it is at a minimum reckless that the latest attempt to resuscitate nuclear power pushes forward heedless of Fukushima's discharge of radioactive materials into the air, soil and ocean.

There are no definitive statistics on the amount of subsidies enjoyed by nuclear power providers - in part because there so many different types of subsidies - but it amounts to a figure, whether we calculate in dollars, euros or pounds, in the hundreds of billions.

Toward the end of the article he does provide many links to documents that give some idea of the huge subsidies that this industry receives.

An ever expanding capitalist economy must have growth and only nuclear power can fuel this growth after the inevitable decline in accessible fossil fuels. Our masters are addicted to capitalism which provides them with so much power and wealth. They are perfectly okay with having you support this industry with your taxes (because they pay little), and are perfectly willing to experience one disaster after another in a desperate attempt to save their goose of capitalism that lays for them so many golden eggs. Thus out of a fake concern for the environment, capitalist sponsored leaders in government are now pushing nuclear energy.