Nuclear Reactors may have Future in Washington State

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 08/15/14

Jake Whittenberg reports that a legislative task force exploring the possibility of nuclear reactors in Washington state is preparing to visit an Oregon plant with a promising new product. NuScale is developing the answers to all the problems posed by nuclear power plants. The company, operating on a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, is producing Small Nuclear Reactors. They are much smaller, less expensive to construct and produce less waste.\n\nThe eight-member task force is supposed to have recommendations for the full Legislature by December 1, 2014 about whether to invest in nuclear energy again. Washington has one reactor - the Columbia Generating Station north of Richland which is owned and operated by Energy Northwest. The state has a difficult history when it comes to building nuclear power plants. Washington Public Power Supply System - WPPSS - tried to build five reactors in Richland and Satsop in the 1970s and 1980s, but massive cost overruns led it to default on its construction bonds, and abandon the giant unfinished concrete structures.\n\nOpponents to nuclear reactors say they are bad for the environment because there are few places to store the waste products, but this complaint has become lame because small reactors produce small waste, easily handled and stored, if necessary.