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Nuclear Power Could Be Back In Colorado

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Jun 30, 2008 7:54 pm US/Mountain

Nuclear Power Could Be Back In Colorado

Good Question: Will Nuclear Power Return To Colorado?

Written by Alan Gionet

Reporting
Alan Gionet
DENVER (CBS4) ― Colorado hasn't had a nuclear power plant since Fort St. Vrain was shut down in 1989 and converted to natural gas. Now, there's talk of nuclear power again.

Gov. Bill Ritter was asked about nuclear power on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday and said, "It's going to be part of our future as a country." Ritter then went on to talk about conservation, efficiency and greenhouse gases, but never gave a yes or no to the question of when he'd take a nuclear plant in Colorado. Monday, the Governor's office declined to explain further, but the talk turned to possible nuclear plants.

"We need to move forward with the new generation of nuclear plants because we've had nuclear energy essentially being dormant now for 30 years in the United States of America and we're not going to solve the problem of global warming which is very important to our farmers and ranchers and ski areas here in Colorado unless we move off of fossil fuels," Sen. Ken Salazar told CBS4.

Ken Anderson, executive vice president and general manager of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association -- an industry consortium that runs power plants like the one in Craig, said they have been talking about it since April. Tri-State is looking at the feasibility of going to nuclear when it builds its next plant in Colorado. Anderson said the plant would be on land Tri-State owns in Holly in Southeast Colorado. He said it's getting more affordable after natural gas has increased from about $6 a 1,000 BTU to nearly $12.

"We know that nuclear becomes viable somewhere around $8 dollar gas, so we're already in the realm of when you think about the capital and all the other things that are associated with nuclear development, it's already in the money," Anderson said.

Anderson said new technology makes it more economical and nuclear has a tiny carbon footprint next to coal fired plants.

But environmentalists are far from thrilled. Matt Garrington, field director for Environment Colorado said, "Well I think the general public still has a problem with nuclear."

Indeed, it does. The nation's long term storage answer of a few years ago, Nevada's Yucca Mountain, is stalled at the very least.

"Frankly we still haven't figured out what to do with nuclear waste," Garrington said.

He also points out that the cost the government pays for that has to be added to the price of going nuclear.
Anderson said the reprocessing of nuclear waste has improved the situation. He cites the handling of nuclear material in Europe, where there are far more nuclear plants than in the U.S.

"What it basically does is allow you to re-use the fuel several times, but in addition to that, the final product is in a much denser than the fuels that we would store today," Anderson said. "You have a lot less to store, you handle it more safely and you don't need as much volume."

But even Anderson says there needs to be movement on the issue before Tri-State would consider a nuclear plant. If so, the association could be looking for approval for a plant in Holly within five years. Construction would put the opening of any such plant at somewhere between 2020 and 2030.

Additional Resources

Listen to Ken Anderson's interview

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