Larry Gude
Strung Out
You're speaking too black and white. Waste disposal is a cost because of the politics associated with Yucca Mountain, to be sure, exacerbated by Pres Jimmy Carter's non-proliferation edict that we not use reprocessed fuel (something France does and creates only 4% of the waste per MW that we do). So, of course there are political forces involved.
But, why do we use nuclear? Market forces ("too cheap to meter"). Why do we use nukes for base-load? Market forces. Why do nukes shut down when they do for refueling outages? Market forces. Why do nuclear operators make more money than fossil fuel plants? Market forces. Why do gas plants beat out coal plants? Market forces.
It just works the way it works, with far too much politicization. But, if solar were actually better idea than nuclear, do you know what would be the proof of that? You guessed it, market forces.
No. If solar were FAR cheaper it would be artificially manipulated, like nuke, like gas and oil, to try and find some sort of balance. How far off do you suppose solar storage is whereby your panels charge batteries that can run the home all night and on cloudy days? Do you think everyone is going to just watch the entire grid go away and not shift costs onto solar, as was done with nuke, to seek balance? Do you suppose the reasons we're still blaming Jimmy Carter is because no one wants to do anything about it? That they know it would crush a lot of other jobs in other power sources?
This market you speak of is not free or open. It's controlled and it's done for good reasons from jobs to economic stability to geo politics. It's a market alright but it ain't free.