The NEI Morning Clip File

Here are some of the news clips we're reading at NEI this morning. A front-page story in today's Washington Times proclaims that "nuclear power is on the rise here and abroad after decades of dormancy, driven by the need for a cleaner environment and steady, secure sources of power in the Internet age."

"Nuclear power is experiencing a budding renaissance," said Steven Taub, director of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "High fossil-fuel prices, low interest rates, and concerns about the environment and energy security have all combined to increase momentum in the construction of new nuclear plants around the globe."

With worries about terrorism now paramount in the minds of the public and political leaders, concerns about safety that haunted nuclear utilities for decades appear to have receded, replaced by increasing confidence that after a half-century of operating without causing a major public health hazard in the United States, nuclear plants have by and large proven to be safe.

A new generation of power plants on the drawing board, some with automatic methods of shutting down in emergencies, promises to be safer than before.

Feeding the growing public acceptance, some prominent environmentalists who formerly were vocal opponents of nuclear power have turned into advocates, saying it is one of the only ways to satisfy demands for power around the world without increasing emissions that pollute the air and contribute to global warming.

Patrick Moore, a Greenpeace co-founder who gained fame in the 1960s leading opposition to nuclear testing, now says nuclear power is a better choice than coal, oil or natural gas for meeting the world's power needs.

"Nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse gas emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy global demand," Mr. Moore told the House Government Reform subcommittee on energy and resources in April. "There is now a great deal of scientific evidence showing nuclear power to be an environmentally sound and safe choice."

In an age in which the threat of terrorism helped send the price of oil soaring to a record $67 per barrel last week, nuclear power has earned a reputation as a reliable power source that would help the United States reduce its dependency on fuel imported from hostile states.

The article goes on to note that nuclear is quickly gaining speed in Asia, where "the growing power needs of rapidly developing countries such as China, India and Russia also have acted as a catalyst for change."

High natural gas prices and environmental concerns about coal-fired plants also are fueling nuclear's comeback:

Natural gas is nuclear's chief rival, as it fuels about 90 percent of the new power plants coming on line in the U.S. The cost of building a nuclear power plant is large compared with that of gas-fired plants, but once a nuclear plant is built it can steadily churn out enormous amounts of power without being subject to volatile market prices that have plagued gas customers in recent years.

In another advantage over gas, analysts say nuclear power and coal are the only fuels that can produce the large amounts of "baseload" power needed to satisfy day-to-day electricity demands in the U.S.

But nuclear power does not produce the harmful emissions produced by the nation's aging collection of coal-burning plants, which are a major contributor to air pollution in the U.S. and have caused cities such as Washington to regularly fall out of compliance with the Clean Air Act.

The need for new power plants is growing in the United States as a result of steady increase in energy demand as well as the aging of existing nuclear and coal-fired plants.

Many of the nation's coal-fired power plants will have to be replaced or upgraded in the next decade, and that is driving utilities to consider going nuclear, said Ray Ganthner, senior vice president at Areva, a Bethesda consulting group that fields several inquiries a week from U.S. utilities looking into nuclear power.

"Nuclear is not a pariah anymore," he said.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Calvert County, Md., residents are content living near the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, for a variety of reasons: it is the county's largest taxpayer and biggest private employer, and a top-notch fishing hole:

Residents of this Southern Maryland county like the plant's two reactors so much, in fact, that they want another. The Lusby facility is on a short list of six sites that could become the location of the first nuclear energy reactor to be built in the United States in 30 years.

... Most praise the facility for reversing the economic fortunes of this once-impoverished county.

When Calvert Cliffs went online in 1975, the county's total budget was $6.6 million. The plant's $6.8 million tax payment the following year more than doubled Calvert's revenue.

... The nuclear plant, which is owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, pays about $15.3 million in property taxes -- about 10 percent of the county's revenue -- and employs about 1,000 workers. A third reactor could add as many as 400 jobs and millions in tax revenue.

Americans are paying high prices at the pumps, as the nationwide average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas jumped 7 cents over the weekend to $2.484 a gallon.

In the last year, prices have gained 63 cents, or about 34 percent.

On average, gas prices are highest in California at $2.758 for a gallon of regular unleaded and are lowest in South Carolina at $2.337.

The national average for premium is $2.733 a gallon, nearly 69 cents higher than the year-ago average.

Retail diesel, meanwhile, is at $2.554, a gain of about 70 cents from last year's price.

Even so, after Friday's record-setting price of $67.10 a barrel, oil prices slipped 49 cents to $66.37 a barrel this morning.

Come back this afternoon for more news from the NEI Clip File.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics