Nuclear mattersFears over nuclear energy stall Kentucky nuclear plans
Days before the 11 March earthquake and tsunami struck Japan causing its ongoing nuclear crisis, a bill that would have eased restrictions on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kentucky failed to pass the state legislature dashing the hopes of atomic energy advocates; the proposed site currently houses a uranium enrichment facility, but it is expected to be shut down in the near future leaving 1,200 people out of work; safety advocates are concerned because the site is located near the New Madrid seismic zone; Kentucky generates 90 percent of its power from coal, and Governor Beshear proposed in 2008 to use nuclear power to generate 30 percent of the state’s energy by 2030
Days before the 11 March earthquake and tsunami struck Japan causing its ongoing nuclear crisis, a bill that would have eased restrictions on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kentucky failed to pass the state legislature dashing the hopes of atomic energy advocates.
With the nuclear crisis in Japan, lawmakers, scientists, and residents have become more fearful of building nuclear power plants making it even more difficult for those who are pushing to build a nuclear facility in Paducah, Kentucky.
Ralph Young, a retired engineer and a member of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant’s advisory board, said, “People see the news and they get spooked.”
Young, an advocate for nuclear energy in Paducah, supported the bill that Senator Bob Leeper (I – Paducah) had introduced to repeal a twenty-seven year old law that mandated that before a nuclear power plant could be built a permanent disposal facility must be in place to handle the radioactive waste.
Senator Leeper’s bill cleared the senate but failed to pass the Kentucky House for the third year in a row. Leeper vowed to introduce the bill once more next year.
Kentucky’s nuclear debate is still largely hypothetical as no company has proposed building a nuclear power plant in the state. But some are hoping to pave the way for a future nuclear power plant in Paducah at the Gaseous Diffusion plant.
The facility currently enriches uranium for nuclear fuel, but is expected to be shut down in the near future leaving 1,200 people out of work.
Following the events in Japan, Young is pessimistic about the potential that Leeper’s bill will pass.
“A lot of people here are saying there is no way … we will get that passed,” Young said.
“It’s put the brakes on all that talk,” he said in reference to Japan.
Rocky Adkins (D- Sandy Hook), the majority floor leader of the Kentucky House, sees little need for nuclear power and is concerned about safety.
“Now those concerns have been heightened even more since the nuclear power crisis in Japan. A lot of members have voiced that concern with me since that happened,” he said.
In addition, according to Adkins, “Kentucky has some of the lowest-cost energy in the nation,” due to the state’s use of coal making it difficult to convince many for the need of nuclear power.
Currently coal supplies 90 percent of Kentucky’s energy needs, but Governor Steve Beshear’s 2008 energy plan proposed using nuclear power to fuel 30 percent of the state’s energy needs by 2030.
While Beshear is still firmly committed to coal, Karen Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, said the governor continues to “support and encourage open, frank discussion on the pros and cons of nuclear energy.”
Fueling safety concerns is the fact that the proposed nuclear site in Paducah sits near the New Madrid seismic zone.
Robert A. Williams, the central and eastern regional hazard assessment coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), says that it does not predict an earthquake anywhere near the size of the 9.0 magnitude tremor that rocked Japan, but it has documented several large earthquakes in the area over the past 4,500 years. Roughly 200 years ago, three earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7, 7.5, and 7.7 shook the region.
James Cobb, the director of the Kentucky Geological Survey, contests these findings stating that USGS methods have exaggerated the threat and that these types of earthquakes rarely occur.
He added that the USGS findings “[put] a bull’s eye that causes people from doing investment there.”
In regards to Kentucky’s nuclear future, Cobb says that the possibility of a plant “shouldn’t be ruled out without more study.”
Despite his assurances, public fear of a nuclear power plant will continue to be a major obstacle.
A poll conducted before the events in Japan took place found that residents were strongly opposed to the plant.
No polls have been conducted since the accident in Japan, but it is likely that concerns over safety have increased.
Linda Long, who lives near the uranium enrichment plan in Paducah, says that the does not want a nuclear plant in her backyard.
“We got enough things that are dangerous and objectionable around here,” she said.
