Nuclear Power Jump Started in Upstate, New York

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By Wild Turkey Desire

[the above design is by Iron Bread Beard Fartucci]

A new nuclear age on the way? On September 30th, 2008 after several talks and a public meeting held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), UniStar Nuclear Energy submitted its combined license application (COL) for the proposed nuclear power facility at Nine Mile Point, just outside of Oswego, New York. In all, UniStar is proposing four potential sites across the United States of America. COL's have already been submitted for Calvert Cliffs, Maryland and Fulton, Missouri. They are still preparing the last COL for submission in mid-October for a site in the State of Pennsylvania.

Now that the appropriate steps have been followed and initial paperwork submitted, the application process will take 36-42 months for the NRC to complete. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with other regulatory agencies, will also be brought in to evaluate various aspects of the application.

A final decision on constructing a new plant has yet to be made, but Unistar has submitted its application in the event that they do decide to go through with the proposed plant at Nine Mile Point. The application seeks approval for a 1,600-megawatt plant, which will employ Arevaâ€™s U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (USEPR). Both Barack Obama and John McCain have expressed their support for nuclear technology.

[ Lake Ontario trees growing near the shoreline ]

Those advocating for the new nuclear plant outside Oswego say:

â€It could create 4,000 construction jobs that would last for about four or five years, and also once the power plant is up and running it would create another additional 400 relatively high-paying jobs,â€ says George Vanderheyden, UniStar CEO and President. [2]

It is also important to note that:

On Lake Ontario there are currently sixteen nuclear power plants. Of those sixteen, twelve of them are located on Canadaâ€™s side of the border, leaving the remaining four on the United Stateâ€™s side. Lake Ontario is also home to an uranium refining plant, two low level radioactive waste disposal sites located along the shoreline, and it also sits down stream from the high level rad waste site of West Valley located in Western NY. These nuclear plants and components make Lake Ontario one of the largest nuclear zones in the in the entire world. [3]

The Citizens Awareness Network of Central, New York believes that:

One of the reasons the industry is almost exclusively targeting existing sites for new nukes is that so many reactor communities are already beaten down and compliant. Nuclear power is unaffordable, unsustainable, and dangerous. But the issue of nuclear power at the local level is about community economics and power — not subsidies, but the fact that reactor communities are mostly poor and rural, in cases like Oswego desperately poor, and people have been conditioned to see no other options for survival than the good-paying jobs at the nukes. That fear is compounded by the fact that they feel they have no power to change things — the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is on the industry's side, their local officials are in the pocket of the company, their neighbors work at the nuke, and the state and federal governments have abandoned them. [1]

Some of you older readers may remember the "anti-nuclear movement" from the late 1970's. In the essay, The Shock of Victory by David Graeber he discusses some of the successes and failures of the "anti-nuclear movment" that may be worth checking out.

The issue of nuclear power has always been a controversial one in Oswego. Interestingly enough, in my own opinion I've found that a lot of the college students who attend Oswego University don't know about the presence of the nuclear plants until after living there for some extended amount of time. Perhaps, in part due to the fact that the college and community forget to tell the perspective students that they will be living right next to three nuclear plants (and now possibly a forth). Though, this is far from an accurate measure of peoples knowledge and opinion regarding the plants, I do feel it comments on the times we are living in.

One final thing that I would like to comment on and suggest for those of you involved in the field of health is that:

It is difficult to analyze and prove scientifically that the nuclear reactors on Lake Ontario have negative effects on the environment. This is due to the fact that health studies donâ€™t incorporate specific enough data to pin-point possible linkages with the patientâ€™s environment.

[ Lake Ontario, almost looks like the ocean, eh (Canada)? ]

In all of this there is the public and its influence over the future. However, in the case of nuclear power - the publicâ€™s comments usually have taken little priority and instead the decisions affecting the industry have been left up to those with the money to privatize the reactors and the government. This is where there is a drastic conflict of interest, since both the government and the private companies want to maintain â€˜business as usualâ€™ while disregarding input from the public sector. Largly due to the fact that, in a capitalist market, environmental concerns are frequently overlooked in desire for greater profits. [3]

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Information about the companies involved: [4]

About UniStar

UniStar Nuclear Energy, a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and EDF Group, is powering the nuclear renaissance in North America through industry leadership, disciplined business practices and effective risk-management. Based in Baltimore, Md., UniStar Nuclear Energy provides the licensing, construction and operating services needed to support the expansion of nuclear energy in the United States.

About Constellation Energy

Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com), a FORTUNE 125 company with 2007 revenues of $21 billion, is the nationâ€™s largest competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and the nationâ€™s largest wholesale power seller. Constellation Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of 78 generating units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 8,700 megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland.

About EDF Group

The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the energy market in Europe, is an integrated energy company active in all businesses: production, transport, distribution, energy selling and trading. The Group is the leading electricity producer in Europe. In France, it has mainly nuclear and hydraulic production facilities where 95 percent of the electricity output involves no CO2 emissions. EDFâ€™s transport and distribution subsidiaries operate 1,246,000 km of low and medium voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is involved in supplying energy and services to more than 38 million customers around the world, including more than 28 million in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of â‚¬ 59.6 billion in 2007, of which 44 percent in Europe excluding France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.