Last week's granting by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of combined construction and operating licenses for two nuclear plants to be built in Georgia -- both Westinghouse AP1000s -- is the culmination of a scheme developed by nuclear promoters 20 years ago.

There have been huge changes in energy since. The consequences in death and illness of of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster have become manifest. Wind energy has become cheaper than nuclear -- thus is the fastest growing new energy source -- and solar is well on its way. The two troubled giants of nuclear power, Westinghouse and General Electric, sold out to the Japanese in 2006: Toshiba took over Westinghouse's nuclear operations and GE partnered with Hitachi. And then there's been the catastrophe at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant complex.

Still, as if a runaway train, the nuclear juggernaut has roared on.

The strategy for what happened last week was set with the passage of the
[Published in GreenNews - Read the original article]