Azad-O'Donnell Aff

Plan: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase market-fixed production cost incentives for domestic deployment of small modular reactors. 

Renaissance Adv
US nuclear renaissance inevitable- only way to meet demand is government subsidies
Worthington 2012 (David Worthington, February 9, 2012, The U.S. nuclear renaissance has begun  , Smart Planet, http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/the-us-nuclear-renaissance-has-begun/13058) JD
There are cooling towers on the horizon in the United States. The nuclear renaissance
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million homes at a cost of US$14 billion, CNN reported.

Global cooperation has restored public faith in nuclear energy; Fukushima doesn’t matter
WNA 11 (World Nuclear Association, The Nuclear Renaissance  , August 2011, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf104.html) JD
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster marked the nadir of public support for nuclear power. However
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been any harm or hazard to anyone on account of those from nuclear power

Scenario 1: Meltdowns
Old reactor types make meltdowns inevitable – reactors have shut down in the past and the NRC has failed at regulation
Gronlund 2007 (Nuclear power in a Warming world: Assessing the Risks, Addressing the Challenges, Lisbeth Gronlund;  David Lochbaum;  Edwin Lyman, Union of Concerned Scientists, http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf) JD
Safety problems remain despite a lack of   serious accidents.   A serious nuclear power accident
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problems so extensive that a year or more is   needed to fix them.

SMRs solve
Wheeler 10 (November 22, 2010, “Small Modular Reactors May Offer Significant Safety and Security Enhancements”, John Wheeler, Clear Trend, http://thisweekinnuclear.com/?p=1193) JD
Even better, most SMRs are small enough that they cannot over heat and melt
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and lower operating costs (a smaller footprint means a smaller security force). 

Meltdowns cause extinction
Lendman, 2011
(Stephen, Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization, 03/ 13, “Nuclear Meltdown in Japan,”, The People’s Voice http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/03/13/nuclear-meltdown-in-japan, accessed 8-2-12, RSR)
Reuters said the 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage, up to
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entire region. "It could be, literally, an apocalyptic event.

Scenario 2: Nuclear Terrorism Scenario
Old reactor types make nuke terror inevitable- They’ll steal fissile material
Early, et al., 2009
(Bryan (Former Research Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs), Matthew Fuhrmann (Professor in Political Science at Texas AandM) and Quan Li (Professor in Political Science at Texas AandM), “Atoms for Terror: The Determinants of Nuclear/Radiological Terrorism”, Social Science Research Network, RSR)
The presence and size of a civilian nuclear infrastructure affect terrorist groups’ cost-benefit
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often look for NR materials in the country that they wish to attack.

Terrorists can also use aircrafts and truck bombs to trigger a meltdown.
Schifman 2010
(Ben, J.D. Candidate at the Columbia School of Law, “The Limits of NEPA:  Consideration of the Impacts of Terrorism in Environmental Impact Statements for Nuclear Facilities, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 35, No. 2, pg. 374, RSR)
Existing nuclear power plants were designed to withstand natural disasters, such as earthquakes,
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term deaths and as many as 518,000 long-term deaths.

SMRs solve - they’re buried underground, heavily layered and no on-site refueling
Loudermilk 2011
(Micah, research associate with the Energy and Environmental Security Policy program at National Defense University, “Small Nuclear Reactors and US Energy Security: Concepts, Capabilities, and Costs”, Journal of Energy Security, 5-31-11,
http://www.ensec.org/index.php?view=articleandcatid=116%3Acontent0411andid=314%3Asmall-nuclear-reactors-and-us-energy-security-concepts-capabilities-and-costsandtmpl=componentandprint=1andpage=andoption=com_contentandItemid=375, accessed 8-1-12, RSR)
As to the small reactors themselves, the designs achieve a degree of proliferation-
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reactors are mitigated and concerns over the widespread distribution of nuclear fuel allayed.

Nuclear terrorism causes retaliation that sparks global nuclear war and extinction.
Ayson 2010
(Robert, Professor of Strategic Studies and Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand –  Victoria University of Wellington, “After a Terrorist Nuclear Attack: Envisaging Catalytic Effects”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 33(7), July)
But these two nuclear worlds—a non-state actor nuclear attack and a
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be admitted that any preemption would probably still meet with a devastating response.

Leadership Adv

Scenario 1: Warming

Global warming is happening; 5 reasons
NWF 12 (July 2012, National Wildlife Federation, http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/What-is-Global-Warming/Global-Warming-is-Happening-Now.aspx) JD
No longer is global warming something only facing future generations. Changes to our climate
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 as low-lying areas are inundated with saltwater.

It’s anthropogenic and scientific consensus goes aff.
Lewandowsky and Ashley 2011 (Stephan Lewandowsky, Professor of Cognitive Studies at the University of Western Australia, and Michael Ashley, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of New South Wales, June 24, 2011, “The false, the confused and the mendacious: how the media gets it wrong on climate change,” http://goo.gl/u3nOC)
But despite these complexities, some aspects of climate science are thoroughly settled. We
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the 19th century, pre-dating even Sherlock Holmes and Queen Victoria.

Nuclear tech solves warming – decreases reliance on carbon based sources.
WNA 7 (World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Energy: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge¶ , IPCC, 4th Assessment Report, Mitigation of Climate Change (2007), http://www.world-nuclear.org/climatechange/nuclear_meetingthe_climatechange_challenge.html)
Over the next twenty five years global electricity demand is expected to double. By
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supply process heat, enabling industry to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Warming causes extinction
Tickell, ‘8
(Oliver, Climate Researcher, The Gaurdian, “On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction”, 8-11, http://www.guardian.co.uk/ commentisfree/2008/aug/11/ climatechange)
We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told
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warming caused by human emissions could propel us towards a similar hothouse Earth.

SCENARIO 2: Heg
SMRs key to tech leadership – puts the US on the cutting edge of nuclear technology.
Fleischmann, ‘11
(Chuck, Representative from the 3rd District in Tennessee, “Small Modular Reactors Could Help With U.S. Energy Needs”, American Physical Society, Vol. 6, No. 2, October 2011, http://www.aps.org/publications/capitolhillquarterly/201110/backpage.cfm, accessed 8-1-12, RSR)
The timely implementation of small reactors could position the United States on the cutting edge
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strategic position on the forefront of expanding global technologies in the nuclear arena. 

Prefer our internal link – explains the last five centuries of global hegemons
Drezner 2001 Daniel Drezner (professor of international politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University) 2001 “State structure, technological leadership and the maintenance of hegemony” http://www.danieldrezner.com/research/tech.pdf
In this decade, proponents of globalization argue that because information and capital are mobile
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leading to a period of strife until a new hegemonic power is found. 

Tech decline will cause heg collapse- US will lashout to retain power
Pape 2009 Robert A. Pape (Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago) January/February 2009 “The Empire Falls”, The National Interest, June 28, http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=20484
America is losing its overwhelming technological dominance in the leading industries of the knowledge economy
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America's current, rapid domestic economic decline is merely accelerating our own downfall.

Otherwise – status based great power conflict is inevitable – relative lead key to prevent global conflict
Wohlforth 2009 William C. Wohlforth (a professor of government at Dartmouth College) 2009 “Unipolarity, Status Competition, and Great Power War” Project Muse
Second, I question the dominant view that status quo evaluations are relatively independent of
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ways that directly contradict their material interest in security and/or prosperity.

Solves escalation of global hotspots- retrenchment causes bickering internationally over leadership and prevents cooperation
Brzezinski 2012 Zbigniew K. Brzezinski (CSIS counselor and trustee and cochairs the CSIS
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/01/03/after_america?page=0,0
For if America falters, the world is unlikely to be dominated by a single
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policy  or start bracing itself for a dangerous slide into global turmoil.

Solvency

Nuclear industry is constricting – no new reactors coming online
Pete Domenici and Warren F. “Pete” Miller, part time Research Professor at Texas A and M University and former assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, July 2012, “Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Global Nuclear Energy Markets,” Bipartisan Policy Center,http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Leadership%20in%20Nuclear%20Energy%20Markets.pdf
Prospects for new reactor construction in the United States have constricted significantly in recent years
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construction very difficult for at least the next decade, if not longer.

Incentives now takes out their disads
WNN 12 (World Nuclear News, SMR vendors apply for government funds, May 22 2012,
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-SMR_vendors_apply_for_government_funds-2205124.html)
The DoE announced in March 2012 that a total of $450 million would be
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and licences in order to identify the most viable candidates for accelerated commercialization."

But only the plan solves- production cost incentives for SMRs key – Creates a sustainable domestic industry.
Rosner and Goldberg, ‘11
(Robert (William E. Wrather Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics) and Stephen (Special Assistant to the Director at the Argonne National Laboratory) , Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, “Small Modular Reactors – Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S.”, Technical Paper, Revision 1, November 2011) RCM
Production Cost Incentive: A production cost incentive is a performance-based incentive.
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should be subject to further analysis as higher quality cost estimates become available.

The current market climate makes Federal investment key to electric supply and Nuclear viability
Bipartisan Policy Center September 2012
Maintaining U.S. ¶ Leadership in ¶ Global Nuclear ¶ Energy Markets¶ A Report of the Bipartisan ¶ Policy Center’s Nuclear Initiative¶ Senator Pete V. Domenici and Dr. Warren F. “Pete” Miller, Co-Chairs¶ September 2012
Electric utilities in the United States face a changing...important technology option ¶ for near- or longer-term deployment.

Plan gets modeled globally
Rosner and Goldberg ‘11
[Robert, Stephen, University of Chicago, Energy Policy Institute, Small Modular Reactors – Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S., http://epic.uchicago.edu/sites/epic.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/SMRWhite_Paper_Dec.14.2011copy.pdf]

As stated earlier, SMRs have the potential...France, Japan, Korea, Russia, and, now rapidly emerging, China.