Energy security

Why nuclear power has no future in California or U.S.

To those who have watched the nuclear industry collapse, the recent bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric Corp. is nothing short of the industry’s death rattle and the final chapter in the 20th century’s deluded affair with nuclear power.

The company’s demise can only be read as decisive proof: There is no economic future in nuclear power.

For decades, Westinghouse was the goliath of nuclear reactor design and construction. Approximately half of the world’s nuclear power reactors are based on Westinghouse technology.

In 2006, when Toshiba bought Westinghouse for $5.4 billion, the seller projected that by 2020 the global market for nuclear power generation was expected to have grown by 50 percent.