Michael Shellenberger, president of Environmental Progress, a nonprofit research and policy organization, said that because nuclear plants produce so much more energy than other forms, they can be more environmentally friendly than even renewables when all the mining, development and land disturbances are taken into account. “Those of us who have changed our minds on it have changed most often on the climate stuff,” Mr. Shellenberger said, “but from the whole life-cycle analysis, it’s just better.” Opponents argue that the industry has already had decades of support, which made many of the companies that own the plants profitable, and that further subsidizing nuclear energy would take momentum and investment away from renewables like solar and wind. “We need to be building the 21st-century energy system and not continuing to subsidize the energy system of the past,” said Abraham Scarr, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocate. Without help, nuclear officials say, there will be far less nuclear power. Two Exelon plants, Quad Cities in Illinois and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, for instance, were unable to submit winning bids in a recent auction to meet future energy needs in the PJM territory, covering 13 Middle Atlantic and Midwestern states and the District of Columbia. After the auction, Christopher M. Crane, chief executive at Exelon, said that by itself the market “can’t preserve zero-carbon emitting nuclear plants that are facing the lowest wholesale energy prices in 15 years.” Exelon pressured the Illinois State Legislature to approve a raft of energy measures, including extra subsidies for nuclear as a zero-carbon energy source, by the end of May or risk the shutdown of the two plants. However, the proposals never came up for a vote.
Officials in Paris are fighting to save the country’s nuclear power industry in the face of pressure from the America climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Test cases to rescue nuclear power stations at risk of closure are taking place in America , Illinois and Paris , while supporters argue nuclear power should receive the same subsidies as solar and wind, as it creates no greenhouse gases and can operate in extreme conditions. However, critics of the policy say paying for more upgrades to already outdated units will put pressure on the consumer, while taking momentum away from true renewable energies.