Study shows costs of nuke plants more than expected

Dear editor:

Why rezone farm ground in the fertile Snake River valley in order to build a nuclear reactor, when building a nuclear reactor anywhere in the United States has become so problematic as to be almost undoable?

Last week the New York Times (Friday, May 29) reported that the "nuclear renaissance" in America has slowed to a stall.

The paper said that though the American nuclear industry had been hopeful for a revival, current problems in the European nuclear industry suggests that new reactors would be "no easier or cheaper to build than the ones a generation ago." This is bad news for nuclear.

The paper said that in Florida and Georgia state laws have been changed to raise electricity rates in order to pass on the costs of the expensive construction of new nuclear plants on to the consumer. Some states like Missouri have balked at these preconstruction costs and suspended any nuclear plant projects for their state.

How expensive are these plants? The state-owned French company AREVA, that builds France's reactors, has admitted that in today's figures, a new nuclear plant facility would cost as much as $8 billion dollars. The New York Times quotes MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) economist Paul L. Jaskow as saying that a number of U.S. companies are looking in trepidation at the magnitude of investment necessary to build a reactor.

Additionally, the new reactors have been hobbled by design flaws and other problems.

The New York Times article noted that nuclear safety inspectors in France have found cracks in the concrete base and steel reinforcements of the showpiece plant in Flamanville. Also among a myriad of concerns, the welders working on the steel container were not properly qualified.

The Times quotes Caren Byrd, an executive director of the global utility group at the brokerage firm of Morgan Stanley, who said such construction issues only add to the overall problem of the cost of nuclear power in a climate of weaker energy demand, tight credit and an uncertain economic future.

Would Elmore County citizens be willing to shoulder increased electricity rates in order to finance the construction dreams of nuclear plant developers?

Would the state of Idaho throw its support behind such an undertaking in our county and for our county?

Is the possibility of jobs worth all this financial risk?

All of these questions finally lead to one important one for our county commissioners: why challenge the current zoning laws for such a fiscally speculative initiative as a nuclear power plant?

Diana Hooley