The October issue of Nuclear Energy Insight is now available online. In it, you'll find an article on the continuing momentum toward the construction of new nuclear power plants in the United States. There also are reports on the response of utilities to Hurricane Katrina and a proposed radiation standard for the Yucca Mountain repository. Other articles discuss a U.N. study on the health effects of Chernobyl, the visit by Tennessee's governor to the Sequoyah nuclear plant, and universities researching new reactor designs.
Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu
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