Nuclear power plant in the works

Columbus Business First ^ | June 17, 2009 | Matt Burns

[Ben Mugged]

Gov. Ted Strickland and other officials will meet in southern Ohio on Thursday to unveil plans to develop a nuclear power plant that would bring new life to a former uranium enrichment facility that closed nearly a decade ago.

Strickland, U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Cincinnati, are scheduled to visit Piketon, where they are expected to disclose plans for the project. The plant will be a joint effort of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) and Areva SA of France, according to a source with knowledge of the project.

The proposed plant, what the state is touting as a “21st century clean-energy production center,” will replace a former gaseous diffusion enrichment facility at a U.S. Department of Energy site in Piketon. That complex was closed in 2001, eliminating nearly 600 jobs.

The new plant is expected to take more than a decade to build and will employ about 4,000 workers during construction and up to 800 workers when it is fully operational, the source told Columbus Business First.

[Ben Mugged]

More good news.....

[shalom aleichem]

if the environmental whackos let it happen...

[Always Right]

I wish them lots of luck and am happy they are trying. But this will only serve to illustrate the hypocrisy of the green movement. They really don’t believe their global warming lies or they would accept nuclear power with open arms.

[GSWarrior]

But what about the habitat of the northern flicker?

[Robert A Cook PE]

But you see, THEY (Obama and the enviro-wacko’s) don't really “want” green jobs nor “real” renewable energy.

They WANT government promises and government money going to consultants and enviro lobbyists and university “study groups” to continue the crisis CAUSED by government interference and enviro study groups - not more power.

[Badeye]

I have absolutely no use for Strickland, Voinovich OR Schmidt.

My governor, senator and house rep respectively.

[kenmcg]

I doubt if it can get through. The environmentalists will block it at every stage. With so many liberal judges & politicians in their hip pocket.........good luck. If it’s good for the US, the libs are against it.

[pepsionice]

The minute that Obama said that Iran had the right of having nuclear power....he dissolved the magic umbrella stopping construction.

In my home state of Bama...they’ve decided to go back and start the next project of building another plant. They’ve selected a county that is desperate for jobs...fairly blue-dog Democrat and a fair number of Republicans. The locals aren’t going to allow some big discussion or outside players to dump the project. Several of the political figures have already put up their position that it will be built.

[SpaceBar]

China has been puting a CO₂ and radiation (yes there's radiation in coal products of combustion) spewing coal fired powerplant online every two weeks for the last several years. Our political windbags and environazis have crippled our own domestic energy sector expansion, and we will soon be a second or third world country in regards to energy infrastructure, if we aren't already. The time is long overdue to go nuclear on a massive scale before it's too late, and sue the environmental racketeers back to the stone age.

[maryz]

But you see, THEY (Obama and the enviro-wacko’s) don't really “want” green jobs nor “real” renewable energy.

I seem to have a recollection that there was a time (back in the 70s maybe?) when the left was all for nuclear energy and right was cautious about it. Of course, once nuclear proved to be safe and feasible, the left turned against it.

And wasn't there a fad for wind power in the 70s too? IIRC, the enviros went nuts because birds apparently can't see the blades when they turn fast enough and were being killed. (I'm against birds being killed too -- at least for something as pointless as windmills for energy.)

[Brad from Tennessee]

I hope I'm wrong but I think the White House will stall all nuclear power plant proposals at the permitting stage through 2012. Nuclear equals affordable, low-carbon base load electricity. It renders wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, etc. impractical and expensive by comparison.

[alloysteel]

The plant is being built, you know, so we may export the enriched uranium fuel to Iran and North Korea.

This will satisfy the urge to raise the level for these third-world countries, while simultaneously leveling down the former technological superiority of the “Untied States of America”.

[Melchior]

If funds were available the same plant could be built in France in three years. Why should it take ten years in the USA? The answer is obvious. It will not be built.

[mc5cents]

If it’s good for the US, the libs are against it.

Yup!

Groucho nails it.

[Wooly]

This is some sort of a pay-off by Obama or the Democrats. The bugs and Bunny people will stop this dead via the surveys and spent fuel disposal issues.

[Wooly]

This is some sort of a pay-off by Obama or the Democrats. The bugs and Bunny people will stop this dead via the surveys and spent fuel disposal issues.

[Wooly]

This is some sort of a pay-off by Obama or the Democrats. The bugs and Bunny people will stop this dead via the surveys and spent fuel disposal issues.

[businessprofessor]

I doubt that the plant will be built. Capital is scarce except for federal money. I believe the 2005 Energy Bill had a provision to provide loan guarantees for nuke plant construction. I think this provision has been removed from the most recent energy bill. Without guarantees, private investment dollars will be hard to find. The political risk is very large. The ruling regime does not like nuke plants. They want funds for renewable power plants, not nukes. The rats in Ohio are out of step with the Washington rats.

[TSgt]

I'm all for it! I just hope it's not another Zimmer...

The William H. Zimmer Power Station, located near Moscow, Ohio, was originally intended to be a boiling water reactor type of nuclear power plant. Although once estimated to be 97% complete, poor construction and quality assurance (QA) led to the plant being converted to coal-fired generation. Today, the plant generates 1400 gross MWe and 1300 net MWe. Zimmer Power Station is the largest single-unit power facility in the United States and is majority-owned by Duke Energy. During the construction of the plant, the Little Indian Creek was routed through the plant to protect fish populations. The plant now has several unique Environmental Protection features to keep the creek at its natural state.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[If funds were available the same plant could be built in France in three years.]

Obviously the French weren't affected by Jane Fonda's 1979 movie “China Syndrome.”

General Electric, Al Gore, Google and many of Obama’s fat-cat patrons are heavily invested in “green” technology and carbon credit shares. Their strategy requires that fossil fuel power generation continues so it can be heavily taxed to supply revenue for dubious “green projects.” In addition, fossil energy producers can be forced into a carbon trading program. Al Gore is deeply invested in European and Asian industrial carbon credit coupons. This market has been going down the toilet for the last year.

The “green” is about the greenback.