Exelon's 'Nuclear Guy': No New Nukes

[DeSwiss]

Forbes
3/29/2012 @ 4:05PM


Retired Exelon CEO John Rowe

Nuclear power is no longer an economically viable source of new energy in the United States, the freshly-retired CEO of Exelon, America’s largest producer of nuclear power, said in Chicago Thursday.

And it won’t become economically viable, he said, for the foreseeable future.

“Let me state unequivocally that I’ve never met a nuclear plant I didn’t like,” said John Rowe, who retired 17 days ago as chairman and CEO of Exelon Corporation, which operates 22 nuclear power plants, more than any other utility in the United States.

“Having said that, let me also state unequivocally that new ones don’t make any sense right now.”

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[font color=blue] - Right. He retires and three weeks later he realizes it doesn't make sense anymore. How convenient......[/font]

[RobertEarl]

1. He's like

"I got mine, see you later, suckers!"

And while our children's children are paying for the mess, he retires with buckoo bucks. There ought to be a law.... grrrr

[Dead_Parrot]

2. “No one in their right mind... would build anything other than a gas-fired power plant"

From http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2012/03/29/fracking-gas-is-writing-americas-energy-policy/

Out of one job, into another?

[bananas]

3. He announced they wouldn''t build new nukes back in 2009

July 2009: "Exelon CEO John Rowe on Friday said his company won't be building new nuclear plants"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=202798&mesg_id=202798

August 2011: "John Rowe: "My Last Nuclear Speech" - August 15, 2011"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=308561&mesg_id=308561

More links in this post:
"Wind is already cheaper than nuclear"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=310013&mesg_id=310023

IIRC, in the 2011 speech he said new reactors wouldn't be economically viable for at least ten years,
now in the OP he says new reactors won't be viable "for the foreseeable future",
which is a much stronger statement.

[bananas]

4. "Ayers was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease by the time the reactors broke even"

From the article in the OP:

Former ComEd CEO Tom Ayers built Exelon’s reactor fleet because, Rowe said, he thought they were best for the environment. But Ayers was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease by the time the reactors broke even on their initial cost. He died in 2007.

“I’m not fond of investments that don’t pay off before I’m incapable of comprehending it,” said Rowe, who took over as chairman and CEO of Exelon in 2003.

From wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_G._Ayers

Thomas G. Ayers (February 16, 1915, Detroit, Michigan – June 8, 2007, Chicago, Illinois) was president (1964–1980), CEO and chairman (1973–1980) of Commonwealth Edison.