America's Missed Nuclear Energy Opportunity
Increasing global power demand—coupled with high natural gas prices in Asia and Europe for electricity generation, and the alarmist climate change narrative—make the right energy generation balance a national priority for developed and developing countries. France and Russia—the current market leaders in nuclear-power-plant construction—are taking full advantage of this market demand. France is another global leader in nuclear power generation. The world’s largest nuclear power operator, EDF Energy, together with Areva, provide great competitive leverage. The extent of Areva’s involvement worldwide is unprecedented; the company has participated in construction and maintenance of 360 reactors out of the total 440 globally. High security and safety standards and highly educated experts are the hallmark of French projects, but the prices are higher than Russia’s. Most recently, EDF and Areva signed an agreement to build two reactors in the UK totaling $26-billion, the fi...