This is the first I saw of this. First Kewanee and now SONGS. We've been told in no uncertain terms that we bring in a substantial amount of revenue for the company, but if the business case were ever to go away, then so would we. Things have changed with the price of natural gas being so low. Nuclear isn't always the cheapest any more.
As far as the shelf life/issues comments go, a Nuclear Power Plant can remain safe and economically viable if given the proper care and maintenance. The problem has been that the owners of some of these plants haven't made that financial commitment and then you see a plant like SONGS being decommissioned as a result. The initial 40 year license for the plants I work at expire in the next couple of years and we've gotten at 20 year license renewal. There's talk of getting an additional license renewal after those are up as well. I'm blessed to work for a company that has made a strong investment in it's Nuke plants and is willing to continue to replace and upgrade the equipment (which in some cases is even cheaper than building gas burners).