Mexico’s Energy Ministry announced this month that it would abandon plans to build as many as 10 new nuclear reactors and would install natural gas-fired plants instead. The announcement by Energy Secretary Jordy Herrera in press interviews follows discoveries of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico and the northern state of Coahuila that have added substantially to Mexico’s potential natural gas reserves. But if nuclear opponents were heartened by the announcement, they also pondered the consequences of natural gas, which poses climate and safety risks. Mexico, which already operates a twin-reactor, 1,365-megawatt atomic-power station at Laguna Verde, had considered the new nuclear facilities as part of an effort to boost its generating capacity by nearly three-quarters, to 86 gigawatts... [Log in to read more]