Don't approve nuke plant

Dear editor:

Who really benefits from the rezoning of Elmore County agricultural land to industrial in order to build a nuclear power plant?

AEHI, the company behind the proposed nuclear plant, would have Elmore County citizens believe they would be the beneficiaries with job production and economic wealth. But how would AEHI benefit and does it matter?

It matters if AEHI cannot finance a $30 billion nuclear power facility themselves and end up selling the land and permits to out-of-state or worse, out of country energy companies. Then this power plant is no longer an Idaho company and the land in Elmore County no longer belongs to the citizens of Idaho.

Will the power generated by this nuclear plant go to Idahoans? CEO Don Gillespie has already stated the power would go to the "highest bidder" which probably won't be Idaho either, particularly when there are power and energy-starved places like Las Vegas or Los Angeles who could pay so much more for it.

If this rezone passes, how will Elmore County citizens benefit from the storage of toxic radioactive waste in our county?

The county's Comprehensive Plan zoning laws originally and wisely sought to locate industrial use ground off Simco Road and away from areas of any population density. Even the U.S. government, in their unsuccessful attempt to find a permanent repository for nuclear waste, chose Yucca Mountain, Nev., a dry mountain region far from people.

By rezoning Hammett farm ground, a decision will be made in effect, to risk storing nuclear waste that remains poisonous and toxic for thousands of years, among the people of Elmore County.

If this rezone passes, what benefit will there be for the county if AEHI does not build their nuclear plant?

To be sure, there will be no jobs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may well reject AEHI's Hammett site proposal because of problems related to storing radioactive waste on this site. The Hammett farm is highly susceptible to erosion, groundwater and surface water run-off that leaks directly into the Snake River. Still in the midst of trying to clean up 48,000 acres of radioactive contamination at Hanford in Washington, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency may take a dim view of storing nuclear waste in an erosion-susceptible location next to a river like the Snake.

What happens to this land surrounded by peaceful farms if it's spot-zoned industrial? It could be sold to a polluting coal power company or maybe something worse.

The point is, rezoning this farm ground makes not only Hammett valley citizens vulnerable, but Elmore County and southern Idaho as well.

Diana Hooley