Ceilidh

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

A confluence of world events, market conditions and public support unseen since the early 1970s has positioned the nuclear industry to meet the nation's need for clean, reliable and affordable electricity. While orders for new plants are not expected until later this decade, the industry must continue to take the necessary steps to address the regulatory and financial challenges that lie on the path to new plant construction, two industry executives said.

"Today, nuclear energy -- through its proven performance -- has captured the attention of leading policymakers, the investment community and even some of the world's top environmentalists," said the Nuclear Energy Institute's vice chairman, Robert McGehee, chairman and chief executive officer of Progress Energy Inc.

"We've arrived at this position because the nuclear energy industry has been building forward momentum over the past several years thanks to superb plant performance, enlightened regulatory changes and hard, steady work by the industry and the federal government to ensure the future of this vital technology," he said.

McGehee addressed more than 400 executives gathered at the Nuclear Energy Assembly, the industry's annual conference. The industry is in a very strong competitive position, and it is time to make the most of the opportunities ahead, he said.


   McGehee identified these challenges that must be met:
   * Incorporate the safety-focused concepts that have proven effective in
     nuclear plant oversight into formal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
     regulations.  This oversight framework allows the industry and NRC to
     devote resources to those aspects of plant operations that are most
     safety-significant.
   * Achieve a greater measure of NRC regulatory certainty concerning the
     industry's improved security programs implemented over the past three-
     and-a-half years.  Stability in the security regulations will allow the
     industry to fully integrate security procedures into safe operations and
     improve coordination between federal and state resources.
   * Ensure that Congress increases funding for the YuccaMountainproject to
     expedite the licensing and opening of the used nuclear fuel repository
     in Nevada.  The program faces chronic funding shortages despite the fact
     that electricity consumers contribute $750 million a year to the Nuclear
     Waste Fund that contains a surplus of nearly $15 billion.  Concurrently,
     encourage the timely development of the Environmental Protection
     Agency's radiation protection standard and the Department of Energy's
     license application to the NRC.
McGehee also discussed the twin challenges of an efficient licensing process and Wall Street support for financing new nuclear plants. He said that though untested, the industry's deliberative process for planning new plants through the submittal of early site permits and the combined construction and licensing process will prove successful.

NEI's president and chief executive officer, Skip Bowman, echoed that theme. He emphasized that the key to laying the groundwork for new plants is to preserve the value of the existing fleet. To accomplish that, the industry must better balance short-term priorities and longer-term objectives.

"Each day, urgent tactical issues call out for attention that could easily consume every waking hour and more, but we must address the strategic issues that left unmanaged will frustrate all the good work we do in the short-term, and we cannot compromise either," Bowman said.

Bowman summarized prevailing market conditions, including the expected 50 percent increase in the demand for electricity by 2025, unsustainable demands on imported natural gas, the overall aging of America's generating capacity and the need to develop new and efficient baseload capacity of which coal and nuclear provide 70 percent.

"The nation will need hundreds of new power plants of all types to meet new demand and to replace older, less efficient power plants. For purposes of planning a large power project, we must act today," he said.

Bowman emphasized that to achieve this goal, the industry will work with Congress, federal and state governments, regulators, grass-roots organizations and the public to build support for new plants.

The latest public opinion survey conducted for NEI -- with 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults contacted May 5-8 -- showed that a record-high 70 percent of Americans favor "the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States." The survey also found 69 percent acceptability "to add a new nuclear power plant next to the nearest nuclear power plants that are already operating" and 77 percent agreement "that electric utilities should prepare now so that new nuclear power plants could be built if needed in the next decade." The survey, conducted by Bisconti Research Inc. with NOP World, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

To promote a diversity of energy sources, especially emission-free sources like nuclear energy, clean coal and renewable energy, enactment of comprehensive energy legislation is urgently needed, Bowman said.

"We need to encourage energy conservation, but we can't meet future energy demands with even the most optimistic conservation measures and with all the wind, solar, geothermal and hydro power this country can support," Bowman said. "It's going to take an investment in new nuclear to meet these demands while protecting our environment."

Energy security and national security are inextricably linked, and the nuclear industry has a vital role to play in enhancing America's energy security by reducing our reliance on unstable nations for energy supply, Bowman said.

"Now that we're united behind a common agenda, our industry has the potential to ensure our prospects for decades to come. This is our time to play a leading role in securing our country's energy future," he said.

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry's policy organization. This news release and additional information about nuclear energy are available on NEI's Internet site at www.nei.org.

SOURCE Nuclear Energy Institute


05/17/2005 12:37 ET

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