You have good reason to be mad. There should be 24 plants under construction, not just 4 plants.
A total of 45 domestic plants will reach the 60 year mark before 2030. There is a huge domestic demand for nuclear power to replace these older plants and add capacity.
The problem for utilities is coming up with the big outlay of cash to build a nuke plant. Utilities don’t have several billion dollars lying around. And right now credit is really really tight because banks are unwilling to take any risks.
The solution is to have the US Government co-sign the loans that utilities need to buy the plants. Understand that the US Government wouldn’t make the loan...they just keep the money in a vault to make the lender feel better about making a big loan.
Well...
At one point, when the “stimulus” package was being developed, it had enough money set aside for about 20-24 plants (money that would have never left government hands). This would have meant thousands of high paying construction/engineering/manufacturing jobs, including opening a domestic plant for forging of large metal vessels.
However, the democrats removed this part of the stimulus package. All that remained was what had already been allocated. The Bush administration had allocated enough money to back the loans for four plants.
Now there are only 4 plants under construction, not 24. Which is why you are right to be mad
Ameren, Westinghouse, present new generation nuclear plans to Public Service Commission