The owners of the Duane Arnold single-unit nuclear power plant in Iowa have decided to permanently close the reactor early after the massive derecho that swept through much of the Midwest recently did serious wind damage to the plant.
The hurricane-force wind also knocked down the grid, causing the Fukushima-style reactor to experience an automatic SCRAM. On-site emergency diesel generators were turned on to maintain essential safety systems to prevent a catastrophic meltdown.
Duane Arnold could not compete with more economical and reliable wind energy —Iowa’s single largest source of electricity at more than 10,000 megawatts — despite being licensed until 2034. Its early closure demonstrates that it cannot compete with severe weather, either.
The closure of the plant would be a piece of great news to many who consider the potential malfunction to be significant biological and economic risks.
Iowa is a windy state and vast space to create non-nuclear and none-fossil fuel sources for electric generation. My concern specifically is directed for several old nuclear power stations in Illinois.
Many of the operating nuclear power generators in Illinois are very close to population centers. I am hoping that they will be decommissioned before their operating-license is expired.
The economic-social impacts for the closure of these nuclear power stations are significant if the alternative replacement for the power generation is not included in the early-decommissioning option.
The cost of the upgrading of many of these plants would be high and may not be economically competitive with the closure option. Modern nuclear power designs would have lower risks of substantial accidents and are smaller in size.
Germany has chosen the option of closing all of its nuclear power stations. Germany has vowed to start decommissioning every nuclear power facility by the end of 2022. Operators began shutting down the Philippsburg nuclear power plant in southern Germany as the country has begun decommissioning all 17 of its atomic energy facilities by the end of 2022.
Should the US old Nuclear Power Stations choose an early closure?
