The Costly Futility of “Small Modular Reactors”

Pro-nuclear propaganda, endlessly repeated by utility PR folks, has persuaded many state legislators and regulators that more nuclear power is needed as “baseline” electricity generation, and that so-called “small modular reactors” (SMRs) are the great new answer for that need.

The reality is different. The saga of the Georgia nuclear plant that at $35 billion has become the most expensive power plant ever built shows that the nuclear industry hasn’t learned the most basic lessons from their repeated fiscal disasters. Patty Durand, renewable energy advocate and candidate for the Georgia Public Service Commission, explains why SMRs are just the latest nuclear boondoggle that will deliver more skyrocketing electric bills—if we fall for the same old scam one more time.