More Nuclear Plants for Mississippi?

Several governors and senators from Southern states met this week at the Southern States Energy Board to discuss topics such as oil and gas development, nuclear energy legislation and Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)  and Governor Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) were among the participants who led the conversation on nuclear energy issues.

Gov. Barbour voiced his support for building another nuclear energy plant in Mississippi.

Candidly, we’d love to have another nuclear power plant. … We don’t have, ‘Not in my backyard.’ We have, ‘Please in my backyard.’

Gov. Barbour’s support for nuclear energy is not unfounded, as Mississippi’s Grand Gulf 1 nuclear energy plant makes up more than 17 percent of the state’s total electricity generation and 100 percent of the state’s total emission-free electricity. The state relies heavily on natural gas (54 percent), which can cause steep fluctuations on electricity prices for the state’s residents. In addition, Mississippi’s geographic region and weather conditions do not necessarily lend themselves to renewable energy sources (a problem among some other Southern states as well), which makes the continued development of nuclear energy an attractive option.

Sen. Graham at the meeting called for increased support from environmentalists in Congress on developing nuclear energy policies. There are several key issues he believes need to be addressed. Platts reports:

Nuclear regulations should be “streamlined,” he [Sen. Graham] said, saying that it takes twice as long to license and build a nuclear plant in the U.S. than it does in France. Utilities investing in large nuclear projects need to ensure that a lawsuit does not hold them up in the final year of construction.

And continued:

In addition, municipal- and state-owned electricity cooperatives that participate in nuclear projects should be allowed to transfer the tax credits they would have received to for-profit utilities, he said. That would allow Santee Cooper, the electric company owned by South Carolina, to transfer production tax credits it would have received from its new nuclear projects to investor-owned Duke Energy, Graham said.

More on the Southern States Energy Board can be found on their website.

Photo of Gov. Barbour at the Southern States Energy Board on Oct. 4, 2011. Credits: George Altman, Washington Bureau

Sen. Graham Goes to Oconee

The Anderson (S.C.)Independent Mail has the news:

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-S.C.] stood in the welcome center of Duke Energy’s Oconee Nuclear Station and said he had learned something new about his hometown nuclear plant.

“I didn’t know how easy it is to shut down,” Graham said. “There’s one button they can press and it drops the fuel rods. With one button, they can shut down the reactor within a second.”

There’s the clean energy angle:

At stake, Graham said, is a clean energy source for future generations of Americans. Wind and solar power, he said, can’t replace the coal-fired plants that dominate the energy production landscape today, but nuclear can.

And the economic angle:

Graham also underlined the station’s role in the local economy, as it has a $90 million payroll and has paid $27 million in property taxes to Oconee County. About 1,500 people work regularly at the plant, said Richard Freudenberger, the plant’s regulatory support manager. Another 2,000 or so are on site now working with Duke on upgrades and refueling the station’s first unit.

The State covers the visit, too, and adds what we might call the Japan angle:

Nestled in the mountains five hours from the ocean, the Duke power plant couldn’t be affected by a tsunami, he noted. The reactors also are of a different design that ensures they could continue to operate safely in the event of a disaster, he said. He conceded that a broken dam at Lake Jocassee could affect the plant, but said Duke Energy is working on a plan to address such a disaster.

And of course the personal angle:

“This nuclear plant, I live five miles away’’ from, said Graham, R-S.C. “I’ve lived in this area all of my life. A lot of the people I have grown up with and went to high school with work here. I have faith in the American nuclear power industry.’’

Sen. Graham is really going out of his way to make the case for nuclear energy. Polls show that support for nuclear energy has lessened though not considerably, but Sen. Graham is still going at least an inch or two out on a limb.

Good for him. He’s a consequential figure and his support is appreciated.

Sen. Graham at Oconee. I believe he is second from left, but don’t quote me.