Craig Wants Reactor at Mountain Home: But an Air Force Official in Washington Says the Idaho Base is Not Under Consideration.
By Katy Moeller, The Idaho Statesman, Boise
Mar. 13–Sen. Larry Craig wants the U.S. Air Force to build nuclear reactors at some of its bases to increase “energy security,” and he would like Mountain Home to be one of the sites.
But while the Air Force is considering that plan, Mountain Home Air Force Base is not on any list of potential locations, officials said Wednesday.
In an Aug. 2 letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, Craig said he believes “that nuclear power has demonstrated the kind of reliability that could best meet the needs of the U.S. military.”
He did not promote Mountain Home Air Force Base as a site in the letter, but a spokesman from Craig’s office told the Twin Falls Times-News that he would “love to see a reactor in Mountain Home.”
Mountain Home and Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico were two possible reactor sites mentioned by Wynne last week, but Air Force officials Wednesday said they believe he misspoke.
“Mountain Home is not a player. We’re thinking he may have meant Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Mont.,” said Lt. Col. Karen Platt in the Air Force press office in Washington, D.C. “If he was thinking of specific places, he would have meant Malmstrom.”
The Air Force is considering a coal-to-liquid fuel generation plant there, she said.
Officials at Mountain Home Air Force Base and Gov. Butch Otter’s office hadn’t heard about Idaho being discussed as a possible site.
“This was a surprise to us,” said Maj. Damien Pickart, a base spokesman, who began getting calls about it Tuesday.
Jon Hanian, a spokesman in the governor’s office, said he couldn’t comment on a proposal he hadn’t heard about. But he did say Otter supports the general concept of nuclear energy in Idaho.
“He has said that he believes that nuclear power should be one of the options we have in our energy tool box,” Hanian said.
There have been two nuclear power plant proposals in Idaho in the past year — one near Payette, which has already been withdrawn, and one near Bruneau in Owyhee County.
Platt, the D.C.-based Air Force spokeswoman, said the discussion of building nuclear reactors at U.S. Air Force bases is in early stages of a 14-year process, and site selection hasn’t yet begun.
It is part of a much larger discussion of energy generation and conservation at Air Force bases around the country.
She said Wynne’s comment to a reporter about Mountain Home and Cannon Air Force Base was off the cuff in the hallway after an energy conference in Arlington, Va., last week.
Congress had asked the Air Force to look at ways to conserve energy, Platt said. The agency is considering coal plants, solar and other possibilities, as well as nuclear.
“The Air Force is the largest user of energy in the Department of Defense,” she said. “A lot of that is fuel because of our airplanes.”
Wynne has received letters advocating the nuclear reactors from just two U.S. senators — Craig and U.S. Sen. Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, according to Lt. Col. Brenda Campbell, a spokeswoman in Air Force Secretary’s office.
Mountain Home Air Force Base, which is located about 50 miles east of Boise, is the only Air Force base in Idaho.
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
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