For the past fifty years, the nuclear industry has been spoon-fed by the Ameriocan taxpayer. It is curious why conservatives who embrace a free market and shy away from allowing the federal government to pick winners and losers would be so enamored by this industry.
Nuclear energy is the most heavily subsidized form of energy of any energy source.
Both the Bush-Cheney energy plan and the Congressional proposals ignore the fact that, despite the massive federal subsidies, it is the dismal economics of nuclear power that have led to the decline of the nuclear industry. And yet there is a dogged determination to revive this costly and inefficient energy source. Policymakers propose to subsidize nuclear energy at every step of the way - in plant construction, energy production, new reactor technology, liability limitation, as well as tax incentives. The Price-Anderson Act, which was passed in 1957 and amended in 1988, is a taxpayer funded insurance policy for the nuclear industry that limits the financial responsibility of the industry in the event of an accident. Since no private insurance companies would insure the reactors, Congress stepped in by passing the Price-Anderson Act.