U.S. Nuclear Power Industry Working on Quiet Comeback
Jun 20 - USA TODAY
More than 26 years after a near-meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the Senate is considering an energy bill that includes financial incentives for construction of nuclear plants. It's the latest sign of the industry's quiet rehabilitation.
They have some unexpected company:
*Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said that although he has been
"totally opposed to nuclear power" in the past, he's now willing to
give it a second look. "You're going to see a move towards nuclear
power," he predicted. "If it's done right, it will protect the
environment."
*Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., includes incentives for nuclear power in a
measure he plans to offer to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. McCain
argues that nuclear power can help solve global warming. "I am a green and
I entreat my friends in the movement to drop their wrongheaded objection to
nuclear energy," he said in a Senate speech.
*Another recent convert: Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat whose home state
of New Jersey gets nearly 52% of its electricity from nuclear power.
"Nuclear issues are being forced on us by the realities of life," he
said. "We are being blackmailed by those who produce fossil fuels that we
import, and more traditional domestic energy production poses risks to the
environment."
27 years with no new licenses
No nuclear power plant has been licensed in the USA since 1978, the year
before the Three Mile Island accident in central Pennsylvania. But interest is
growing. The reasons: rising prices for oil and natural gas, concerns that
fossil fuel emissions are harming the climate, and an increasing desire to make
the nation less dependent on energy supplies from the Middle East.
"It's now dawning on people that if you're talking about producing
cleaner energy that will really fulfill needs of large populations, nuclear
stands alone," Domenici said in an interview this week.
No one died at Three Mile Island. But the failure of mechanical systems,
which caused a partial meltdown of the reactor core and some release of
radioactivity, was "a public relations disaster for our industry,"
said Steve Kerekes of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Even so, nuclear power never went away. There are 103 nuclear plants
operating in 31 states, which Kerekes said generate 20% of the nation's
electricity. Now, three companies have told the Energy Department that they plan
to file for nuclear power plant licenses.
The Senate energy bill and a version passed by the House contain incentives
to encourage investment in nuclear power. Both bills renew federally backed
insurance for the nuclear industry, which Bush also supports. Under the Senate
bill, new nuclear plants could qualify for federally backed loan guarantees for
"innovative technologies."
The Senate energy bill also provides tax credits for companies that develop
new nuclear reactors. Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a
non-partisan watchdog group, called the credits one of "the worst" of
the measure's "giveaways to energy special interests" and estimated
that it could cost taxpayers "billions of dollars in tax breaks."
Potentially costly for taxpayers
Some environmentalists, including Stewart Brand, editor of The Last Whole
Earth Catalogue, are endorsing nuclear power as a way to reduce global warming.
But according to Dave Hamilton, director of global warming and energy programs
for the Sierra Club, "by and large the environmental community is united in
thinking that nuclear power is a bad idea that causes more problems than it
solves."
Nuclear reactors do not produce greenhouse gases, but they do create
radioactive waste. There will be 52,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel in
U.S. storage by the end of this year, according to Dave McIntyre of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. Safety and security are key issues, especially amid
concerns of possible terrorism.
Hamilton said nuclear power is potentially costly for taxpayers because the
government will have to pay for the cost of waste storage and the bulk of any
cleanup after a reactor accident. But he says the industry has done a good job
of cultivating lawmakers. "They have done an exceptional job of
lobbying."
The Nuclear Energy Institute's political action committee has contributed
$76,376 to candidates so far this year; 95% of the contributions have gone to
Republicans, The industry has also donated to Senate Democrats, such as Tom
Carper of Delaware, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
Contributing: Jim Drinkard