Say Hello to the First New U.S. Nuclear Plant in Almost 20 Years

Remember the last time a new nuclear power plant opened up in the U.S.? If not, that’s excusable. It wasn’t in this century. It was Watts Bar in Tennessee, which opened for business in May 1996.

Recent years have brought a succession of high-profile nuclear plant closures. The combined pressures of cheap natural gas driving down electricity prices, aging facilities requiring expensive repairs, and potent grassroots opposition have shuttered plants like California’s San Onofre, Vermont Yankee, and soon Massachusetts’ Pilgrim plant. Depending on who you ask, the 2011 meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan proved the need to shut down more plants or upgrade their safety features. There are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about nuclear energy’s prospects.