U.S. Nuclear Power Industry
Background and Current Status
The U.S. nuclear power industry, while currently generating more than 20 percent of the Nation’s electricity, faces an uncertain future. No nuclear power plants have been ordered since 1978, and more than 100 reactors have been cancelled, including all ordered after 1973. No units are currently under active construction; the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 1 reactor, ordered in 1970 and licensed to operate in 1996, was the last U.S. nuclear unit to be completed. The nuclear power industry’s troubles include a slowdown in the rate of growth of electricity demand, high nuclear power plant construction costs, public concern about…
