Nov 14 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Coulter Jones The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.



Nuclear energy will make up a larger portion of Pennsylvania's and the nation's energy production, as the federal government looks to strengthen laws limiting carbon emissions, Robert Powelson said Friday. But, the commissioner of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said the nation needs to address several key issues, including disposal of nuclear waste and regulations monitoring the industry.

"Nuclear power has got to be part of that equation," Powelson said. "You don't run U.S. steel plants on wind and solar. They are nice sources of energy. They might get up to 5-to-6-percent of Pennsylvania's energy mix, but you need a reliable, base-load power source in order to run your manufacturing base."

Powelson was the keynote speaker Friday during a public forum at Wilkes University about nuclear energy. His speech, "Nuclear Power in the Age of Obama," focused on the United State's expansion of nuclear energy power plants as a "cleaner, reliable" alternative to coal and other traditional energy sources.

Pennsylvania has five nuclear energy plants with nine nuclear reactors. PPL Corp. is looking to extend the federal licenses of its two nuclear reactors near Berwick, and has applied to add a third reactor to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.

A large portion of Powelson's speech addressed problems with disposal of nuclear waste. Currently, nuclear materials are stored on site at the Susquehanna Electric Station and elsewhere. That material is safe, secure and there is room to store more material at the location, Powelson said, but it's not a productive, permanent solution. Powelson said plans to scrap the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository are based on politics and bad for national policy. The waste repository, located north of Las Vegas in Nevada, was built to store nuclear waste material. The facility was nearly complete, but has not been used. Earlier this year U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the plan to use Yucca Mountain would not be used.

"Yucca Mountain needs to move forward," Powelson said. "Let's get the politics out of it. Let's build the infrastructure to get it there."

Powelson said the country needs to consider the disposal of nuclear materials, especially if nuclear energy production will continue to increase as expected. He questioned whether the United States would follow the path of countries like France, which gets a majority of its energy from nuclear power plants. Many French nuclear facilities recycle nuclear materials, reducing waste, but many American plants are currently not designed to recycle the waste.

"If we're going to try and kill Yucca we need to come up with a 'Plan B' option," Powelson said. "I have to tell you, I don't think there is a whole lot of discussion right now on what that 'Plan B' option is going to look like."

cjones@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2110

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