Texas Could Lead the Charge for U.S. Nuclear Power Surge

By R.A. Dyer

AUSTIN, Texas – With eight power plants on the drawing board, Texas could lead the way in an American renaissance of nuclear power, according to industry leaders and some policymakers.

Four power companies – New Jersey-based NRG Energy, Amarillo Power, Dallas-based Luminant and Chicago-based Exelon – have proposed building nuclear plants in Texas. That would increase the reactors in the state from four to 12, and more than triple its nuclear output.

It’s likely that some of the plants will never get built, and the permit process and construction would take about a decade.

But whether Texas ends up with two more reactors or eight, it is clear that a nuclear awakening is underway. Largely spurred by new loan guarantees and other federal incentives, plus a new regulatory scheme in Washington, companies are floating plans and partnering with overseas firms on construction and design.

This reawakening is also evidenced by a spate of licensing and operating applications at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a development all the more startling given that these applications are the first since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.

“Nobody has built a plant in 28 years, and all the manufacturing capacity is in France and Japan,” said Steve Winn, chief executive officer for nuclear development at NRG. “So rebuilding the U.S. labor force is going to be a challenge and we’re working with the state and federal government to work with a plan for labor training. … But the financial community and the general population are more open to nuclear power now than they have been in a long time.”

Serious questions remain. For instance, no solution has been found for the radioactive byproducts of nuclear energy, which can remain hazardous not for just hundreds of years, but for thousands or even tens of thousands.

The construction costs can also be daunting. Already, detractors are warning that the new plants would be much more expensive than advertised.

While utilities reportedly have priced the cost of a kilowatt of nuclear power at $3,000 to $4,000, Moody’s Investors Services said in October that a more realistic price would be $5,000 to $6,000. That puts the cost of a 1,500-megawatt nuclear plant at about $9 billion, according to reports.

And another renaissance might be in the offing – that of the anti- nuclear movement.

“We think that nuclear power is the wrong way to go and we’re certainly going to be opposing these new nuclear power reactors,” said Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club.

Texas is home to four nuclear reactors at two sites – two at Luminant’s Comanche Peak site at Glen Rose, and two at NRG’s South Texas Project, in Matagorda County. The Comanche Peak reactors came on line in 1990 and 1993; the South Texas reactors came on line in 1988 and 1999.

Collectively, the NRG and Luminant plants produce about 13.4 percent of the annual output on the Texas power grid and have a combined generating capacity of 5,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 3.5 million homes.

Under current plans, Luminant and NRG would more than double their nuclear output by building two more reactors apiece adjacent to their current facilities.

All told, the NRC says it expects as many as 30 permit applications for reactors across the country. The agency has already received 14 applications, the first since 1979.

Under the new regulatory process, companies can apply for an operating license using plant designs preapproved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In theory, this will cut the time required to obtain the necessary permits.

“The catalyst has been the (federal) Energy Policy Act, which provided loan guarantees and production tax credits,” said Dave Knox, a spokesman for NRG. “It was needed to kick-start the nuclear industry. After we stopped building nuclear, most of the infrastructure had gone overseas to France and Japan. … The loan guarantees were needed to rebuild the industry.”

He said anxiety over global warming and the country’s growing dependence on fossil fuels helped spur the 2005 legislation.

Operators of the Texas power grid predict that Texas’ population will grow by 6 million by 2016 and that the state’s energy needs will grow accordingly. Moreover, several older power generation plants are expected to shut down in coming years.

A megawatt is enough power for 500 to 700 homes under normal conditions. Currently, the power plants on the grid can generate about 73,500 megawatts, and grid operators say that Texans will need an additional 70,000 megawatts by 2028.

That means the state must look to nuclear power for at least part of its long-term power needs, says Barry Smitherman, chairman of the state Public Utility Commission.

“Our state is currently home to four nuclear generation facilities, but more are needed to help satisfy our growing energy needs,” he said in a recent presentation to lawmakers.

Originally published by McClatchy Newspapers.

(c) 2008 Sunday Gazette – Mail; Charleston, W.V.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.