Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 at INL created the first usable amount of electricity ever generated from nuclear power on Dec. 20, 1951.
capacity will be needed in the next 40 years, totaling about 181 new reactors. Here in Idaho, Areva was approved by the DOE for a $2 billion loan guarantee in May— a sum that will cover a large portion of its estimated $3.3 billion price tag. While renewables and energy efficiency would also make out with a hefty chunk of change, the robust support for nuclear power reflects President Barack Obama’s budget priorities, which call for tripling the loan guarantee for new projects to $54.5 billion. “I’m not one of those people who does not think there’s a role for government to play in encouraging efforts that will go to benefit us all,” Brailsford said. “But nuclear power has had decades of that … and nuclear power is just too slow and too expensive to be a reasonable response to some of the problems we’re having.” The prevailing argument among proponents is that rising energy needs coupled with the long-term cost savings and carbon-light output of nuclear energy makes it an attractive alternative. With carbon cap and trade provisions included in the current legislation, boosters also say that nuclear power will finally become attractive to private investors. “If we are serious about greenhouse issues and the fact that our need for electricity and power is going to double in the next 30 years, we’re just not going to get it done with alternative sources and conservation, as some people would like to believe,” Allgood said. “We have to have some more nuclear plants.” Plus, as Grossenbacher said, when you’re married to a reactor, it’s often for life. “You’re building an essentially 100-year piece of energy infrastructure,” he said.
PAYETTE: NUKE TOWN, USA The debate over which is ultimately “cheaper” or the recipient of more government largesse—nuclear or renewables—is a circuitous subject fraught with labyrinthine interpretations and caveats on both sides. But one thing is clear: despite the fact that it is the cradle of nuclear power, Idaho has never hosted a commercial nuclear reactor. According to Grossenbacher, the reasons for that are obvious: too much cheap hydroelecWWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
tric power and not enough energy demand. “If we wanted to build one here we could, but there hasn’t been commercial nuclear plants in this region for economic reasons,” he said. “We’ve never really had to generate that much electricity for the state,” Allgood agreed. “Hydroelectric has been cheap enough.” Still, he is hopeful that nuclear development will someday take place in the state. “We would have to find a utility or a business that has the interest in building a commercial reactor,” he said. “Reactors, the truth of the matter is, use a lot of water. We’d have to find somewhere that water is plentiful. I’m sure there are some places in the state that would work, but still there’s got to be a reason to build one. “I would like to see some people come to Idaho and do a serious search of the opportunities or possibility, but that’s going to have to be something on the commercial grade,” he added. In 2007, billionaire investor and energy magnate Warren Buffet considered bringing a 1,750 megawatt nuclear plant to Payette but ultimately backed away from the concept because the economics didn’t pencil out. “It would have to be somebody like that,” Allgood said. In the years following Buffet’s exit, there has been another nuclear developer fronting a reactor complex in Southwestern Idaho. Alternate Energy Holdings Inc., a startup helmed by Don Gillispie, a hard-charging entrepreneur from Virginia, first approached Owyhee County about its proposed 1,700 megawatt Idaho Energy Complex around the time that Buffet’s goliath Mid American was stepping back from the state. After some initial forays into gaining county approval, AEHI decided to pull the plug on its Owyhee proposal after discovering fault lines at its preferred site. But rather than abandon the idea, the company moved its project east to Elmore County. The plan there got bogged down in the process, first when its application for an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan was shot down by Planning and Zoning, and later when its request was reconsidered
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