Obama’s support for nuclear power, Exelon, & his proposed $36 billion nuke bailout

[wordpix]

This story has blipped off the radar but really needs to stay outed and discussed b/c it sheds light on why O supports nuke power, even after Japan's disaster. We have to cut "entitlements" like Medicaid, Medicare, college loans and environmental programs but once again, the corporations that can't make it on their own get THEIR welfare money with plenty of backing from the WH. :puke: :grr:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-support-for-nuclear-power-faces-a-test/2011/03/18/ABQLu8r_story.html

By Peter Wallsten and Jia Lynn Yang, Friday, March 18, 7:49 PM

As the deepening crisis in Japan presents the nuclear power industry with its gravest test in years, President Obama has emerged as a critical ally and defender.

Repeatedly in recent days, Obama has peppered public remarks on Japan with assurances that U.S. reactors are safe and that nuclear energy remains a key component of his energy agenda.

...snip

But because the cost of building a new reactor is so high — and Wall Street is reluctant to invest, with natural gas emerging as a more viable alternative — utilities have turned to the government for assistance. Obama has signaled his desire to help, proposing in his 2012 budget plan an additional $36 billion in loan guarantees to build new plants.

That would come on top of the $18.5 billion set aside as part of the loan guarantee program started under President George W. Bush’s Energy Policy Act of 2005.

snip

[bvar22]

1. "Seek,

and you shall find."



Who will STAND UP and represent THIS American Majority?
Platitudes, Rhetoric, Empty Promises, and Excuses are meaningless now.

"By their WORKS you will know them,"
And by their WORKS they will be held accountable.

[joeybee12]

2. KNR...the only green thing about Obama is the green he proposes to

give his financial supporters as kickback for their support...I would love someone to try and nail him down about his real thoughts about the environment...I bet he really doesn't have any.

[Octafish]

15. During the campaign, you'll remember, he never promised...

...to do most of the stuff he's been doing or not doing.

Remember when he said he'd build a Green Economy? He must've forgotten. Or thinks we have ("Obama is not a friend of nuclear power").

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Chris Matthews show aired last night here ( I think in most places its on sunday?) but he his panel

was overwhelmingly certain Obama was also going to cut social security in his second term too.

I don't know what to make of it.

[sasha031]

4. change you can believe in

x(

[Bluebear]

29. .

[ProSense]

5. The Exelon

claim is beyond stupid.

[wordpix]

7. yeah, right, bundling $340K in contributions to O makes no difference

and the Emanuel and Axelrod connection to Exelon don't matter, either. :crazy:

My main point is O proposes to bail out nuke corpos with GUARANTEED LOANS b/c they can't afford to build new nukes themselves. If I can't afford to build a house or run a business myself, I don't get a GUARANTEED loan from the gov so why should Exelon, Toshiba or any other nuke corp get one, especially when we're in a $14 trillion debt situation?

And now, after the Japan disaster, O should be saying he's examining the wisdom of his $36 billion proposal at the very least.

[ProSense]

8. Exelon

had no bundlers. The President raised nearly $700 million. Claiming that $270,000 from a bunch of employees is the reason for policy is ridiculous. By that logic every organization in the top 20 and the dozens above Exelon have something coming to them too.

Absurd.

[wordpix]

9. yes, no doubt the top contributors DO have something coming to them

Isn't that the way our legalized bribery campaign contribution system works?

[marions ghost]

17. Obama's backyard

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/304736

[KittyWampus]

19. "top contributors"? We are talking about individuals. We could look at any corporation, business,

group and find Democrats and indies donating to Obama.

[leveymg]

13. If they don't expect something in return, why did Exelon and Rowe give money to Obama?

Admittedly, this company and its CEO, like the nuke industry as a hole (radioactive, melted), contributes more to the GOP. Isn't that just another reason to be opposed to the $36 billion in loan guarantees and to be outraged that Obama and Alexrod are taking money from this group?

[KittyWampus]

20. THEY DIDN'T. Individuals did. Are you really that uneducated? Obama didn't take PAC money.

The contribution came from individuals.

You can look at ANY business and see who the employees donated to.

Damn, DU'ers can be clueless.

[leveymg]

25. My understanding, Kitty, is that Rowe and others made individual contributions and Axelrod

had income of some sort - consulting - from the company?

Is that correct, or am I "really that uneducated." Pardon me.

Did I say anything specific about PAC money?

[rusty fender]

11. And the Gov't., that means the taxpayers, insure

the nuclear industry. NO PRIVATE INSURANCE COMPANY will insure nuclear power plants. The industry can't make it in the "free market". :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[wordpix]

12. So this industry expects total taxpayer BAILOUTs for construction & anything that goes wrong

That includes radioactive fuel rods stored onsite in pools for 40 yrs., as well as nukes built on top of fault lines, or near them in NY and CA. Yet, let's build MORE!!!! :sarcasm:

[Statistical]

14. Every nuclear reactor in the US has $12.69 billion in private insurance.

[wordpix]

16. and your links are where?

[Statistical]

21. Here.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/funds-fs.html

Under existing policy, owners of nuclear power plants pay a premium each year for $375 million in private insurance for offsite liability coverage for each reactor unit. This primary, or first tier, insurance is supplemented by a second tier. In the event a nuclear accident causes damages in excess of $375 million, each licensee would be assessed a prorated share of the excess up to $111.9 million. With 104 reactors currently licensed to operate, this secondary tier of funds contains about $12.6 billion. If 15 percent of these funds are expended, prioritization of the remaining amount would be left to a federal district court. If the second tier is depleted, Congress is committed to determine whether additional disaster relief is required.

The only insurance pool writing nuclear insurance, American Nuclear Insurers, is comprised of investor-owned stock insurance companies. About half the pool's total liability capacity comes from foreign sources. The average annual premium for a single-unit reactor site is $400,000. The premium for a second or third reactor at the same site is discounted to reflect a sharing of limits.

-------------------------------------------

First Tier - $375 million individual reactor policy.
Second Tier - $12.6 billion shared risk pool.
Third Tier - Price-Anderson government insurance.

[rusty fender]

22. And the amount in the private ins. pool

is a drop in the bucket for any nuclear disaster. $12.6 billion will not cover a single major disaster, thereby requiring Price-Anderson to cover the rest of the costs.:nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[Statistical]

23. It has covered every accident to date in the United States.

Also the claim is that no insurance company would insure them because they are so risky which is false.

Insurance company would pay out first on any accident small or large. Hence they are fully exposed to any risk where taxpayers are only exposed to risk beyond $12.6 billion.

[wordpix]

24. what will the Japan nuke disaster cost? We're not just talking about Tepco but also relocating

and buying out people who lost homes and relocating them, schools, businesses, gov. offices etc. There are thousands of people in the 12-50 mi. radius, at least.

[leveymg]

27. Will $12.7 billion really cover the cost of a nuclear accident in the U.S.?

That amount doesn't even cover the cost of constructing a single plant. ( * April 2008 — Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement for two AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle,(20) at an estimated final cost of $14 billion plus $3 billion for necessary transmission upgrades.(21)(see, Wiki: The Economics of Nuclear Power)

[KittyWampus]

18. just because your prejudice wants to invent bundling, doesn't mean it happens. It just means

you'll believe anything if it supports your bias.

[Cobalt Violet]

6. lol , and here are his constituents

"The president’s position appears to be in good stead with crucial independent voters, a majority of whom view nuclear as a safe energy source, according to a new Fox News poll. The survey found that a plurality of Democratic voters disagree."

[leveymg]

28. Same "drill baby, drill" Fox News-watching constitutents. In other words,

Republicans and low-information voters who likely won't vote for him anyway.

Is that really "the base" the Obama hopes will reelect him?

[girl gone mad]

10. k & r

[ClarkUSA]

26. lol! Conspiracy theorists would also question U of CA employees "bundling" over $1M to Obama08.

They'd say, also without a shred of proof, that those contributions are the reason he's refusing to cut Pell grants and wants to raise education spending by 11%. FYI, U of CA was his top industry contributor in 2008, much more than any Wall Street entity.

Of course, the vast majority of Obama's campaign contributions came from ordinary people like me in amounts <$200. It's convenient for Obama's opponents to make this glaring omission when they demonize him.