Notwithstanding years of safe and reliable operation of power reactors in the United States, now is the time to pull the plug on nuclear energy. Cheaper electricity from natural gas and renewables is now widely accessible and can replace nuclear.
For decades, nuclear-generated electricity was more cost-competitive than power from natural gas, solar and wind, or even coal. Today, that cost calculus has changed. Thanks to two new revolutionary Made-in-the-USA technologies — horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing — the shale revolution has made abundant natural gas available as a low-cost fuel. And a dramatic drop in the costs of solar and wind power mean that both are now stand-alone energy sources that are starting to compete in electricity markets without the need for taxpayer support.
