Half-Dead or Half-Life?

NRG Energy announced last week that it no longer plans to pursue expansion of the South Texas Project at Matagorda Bay – seemingly good news for local critics of the nuclear expansion. But on Tuesday, those critics marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster with a renewed protest against NRG, this time calling for the company to withdraw its applications for a reactor license and federal loan guarantees for the project. NRG subsidiary Nuclear Innovation of North America is going forward with the application process – which it began in 2007 – despite NRG's plans to no longer invest in the project. According to a press release from the Solar Sí Nuclear No coalition – which includes the SEED Coalition, the Texas Campaign for the Environment, and Public Citizen, among many other organizations – that leaves open the possibility for another company to "come in, buy out the project and move forward with additional reactors." The coalition is also calling for NRG to halt efforts to relicense STP's two existing reactors – in which Austin Energy owns a 16% share – for an additional 20 years beyond their current retirement dates (2027 and 2028). For more, see www.solarsinuclearno.org.