| 3/11/2008 9:30:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Nuclear power: Getting attention?
With crude oil settling at $100-plus per barrel, gasoline reportedly heading to $4 per gallon, fuel prices spiking across the energy spectrum and worry about greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, interest is renewing in using nuclear power to generate electricity - at least to a degree.
That's a bet nuclear power advocates are apparently making, at any rate. Some 34 applications for new reactor plants in a dozen or so states, most of them in the southern U.S., have been announced.
Mining firms have taken note. Interest in uranium for use in nuclear reactors is growing.
In Park County, a Nevada company proposes to mine uranium 7 miles northeast of Hartsel. The possibility of liquefying the mineral, then bringing it to the surface, has nearby residents concerned about possible contamination of underground aquifers supplying wells.
In southern Utah, uranium mining firms are quietly pursuing mining claims on federal lands.
Just west of Marshall Pass in Saguache County, a Seattle company took control of mineral rights near the former Pitch uranium mine, which operated in the early 1980s but closed shortly thereafter.
The last new nuclear-powered electrical generating plant in the U.S. went into operation in the mid-1990s. The last application for a new plant came in the late 1970s.
Given the relative lack of publicity and knowledge about nuclear power, most Americans have little awareness of the role reactors play in this country. Currently, nuclear-powered plants account for roughly 20 percent of the country's electrical supply needs.
Nuclear power accounts for more generating capacity than oil, natural gas and hydro. Only coal-fired plants produce more electricity than nuclear reactors. Most Americans would be surprised by just how much electrical power already comes from nuclear reactors.
The amount, however, pales when compared to France where fully 75 percent of the country's electrical supply comes from fission reactors. The French made a commitment to nuclear more than 30 years ago with the first worldwide energy crisis. Today, France's nuclear industry and degree of electrical energy independence is a source of national pride.
Not on the radar
In the meantime, for U.S. presidential candidates, nuclear power is barely on the political radar. Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tout alternative energy sources including wind, solar and ethanol as the answers to this country's looming energy crisis.
Independent Ralph Nader flatly says nuclear is not a consideration.
Republican John McCain calls for greater emphasis on nuclear energy along with increased production of domestic oil in addition to continued development of alternative energy sources.
But nuclear energy is nothing close to a major issue in the race. The candidates would rather promise increased ethanol production as a means of reducing reliance on foreign oil. They fail to mention the subsequent increases in costs for everything from bread to milk and hamburger - which Americans are already seeing at grocery stores.
It's all more good news, of course, if you're Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Among other oil exporting countries, they no doubt are laughing on their way to their banks.
- MJB
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