Reply to William Tucker's critique of Amory Lovins's article "Nuclear Socialism"

Amory Lovins responds to a critique by William Tucker regarding the economic viability of nuclear power, asserting that new U.S. reactors lack a business case and are unable to attract private capital despite significant subsidies.

• Amory Lovins argues that new nuclear reactors in the United States are unable to attract private capital, even with subsidies exceeding 100%, because they lack a viable business case. He contends that increasing subsidies create financial risk and moral hazard.
• Lovins contrasts the lack of private investment in nuclear power with the growth of renewables. In the previous year, renewables (excluding large hydroelectric dams) attracted $131 billion in global private investment and added 52 billion watts of capacity, while nuclear power received zero private investment and lost capacity.
• Lovins disputes William Tucker's claims regarding the failure of the Constellation project, stating it was caused by poor economics rather than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, noting that the project failed despite a $7.5-billion taxpayer loan guarantee.

APA

Lovins, A. (n.d.). Reply to William Tucker's critique of Amory Lovins's article "Nuclear Socialism". RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2010-25_ReplyToWilliamTucker.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory. Reply to William Tucker's critique of Amory Lovins's article "Nuclear Socialism". RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2010-25_ReplyToWilliamTucker.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory |title=Reply to William Tucker's critique of Amory Lovins's article "Nuclear Socialism" |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2010-25_ReplyToWilliamTucker.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{lovinsndreply, author = {Lovins, Amory}, title = {{Reply to William Tucker's critique of Amory Lovins's article "Nuclear Socialism"}}, publisher = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2010-25_ReplyToWilliamTucker.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }