Do Politicians Care About Nuclear Matters (James Conca - Forbes)

Link to whole article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2014/10/10/do-politicians-care-about-nuclearmatters/ Excerpts follow: ENERGY 10/10/2014 @ 10:35AM 88 views

Do Politicians Care About Nuclear Matters?

Why don’t politicians ever talk about nuclear energy? Except for Nikki Haley or Barbara Boxer firing up their bases, there is no serious political discussion about nuclear power. And when there is, it’s all fear and doom, contrary to reality.

But a bipartisan group of political leaders have formed an organization to address just this issue. Nuclear Matters is composed of folks like former Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner. These leaders understand firsthand the political and economic forces that shape our country and our energy needs.

Nuclear Matters seeks to inform the public about the clear benefits that nuclear energy provides to our nation. They want to raise

awareness of the artificial economic challenges to nuclear energy that threaten those benefits.

And they are working with stakeholders to explore policy solutions that properly value nuclear energy as a reliable, affordable and lowcarbon electricity source that is essential to our energy future.

Former Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN; on left) and Judd Gregg (R-NH, on right) join a host of high-level politicos in informing the public about the clear benefits that reliable, affordable and carbon-free electricity from nuclear power provides to America as part of the new organization named Nuclear Matters. Source: Nuclear Matters

Nuclear Matters points out that our nation’s energy security, economy and environment all suffer when energy markets fail to value the basic attributes nuclear energy:

- clean energy with virtually no air emissions - continuous baseload generation that supports electric grid reliability - fuel and technology diversity - thousands of well-paying long-term jobs, and - a myriad of contributions to local and regional economies . .

The new arbitrary structure of wholesale electricity markets results in artificially low electricity and capacity prices. Cheap, constant electricity provided by nuclear is kept de-valued in this present market.

According to Nuclear Matters co-chairman Senator Gregg, “Closure of Wisconsin’s Kewaunee plant cost its host county 15% of its jobs and 30% of its tax revenue.�

The Ginna Nuclear Plant in New York is now at risk because its biggest customer will not renew power purchase agreements with the plant, similar to what happened in Vermont.

Nuclear Matters hosted an event in Manhattan just a few weeks ago that convened a diverse and bipartisan set of stakeholders.

Browner, Bayh and Gregg drew attention to the fact that New York’s six nuclear reactors generate 33% of the state’s electricity, employ more than 3,440 highly skilled employees with an annual payroll of $274 million, and pay more than $115 million in state and local taxes. More than 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions were prevented by New York’s nuclear energy facilities in 2013, the equivalent of taking more than four million passenger cars off the road.

So why isn’t preserving nuclear power at the top of everyone’s list?

Because nuclear energy has no constituency.

There’s no West Virginia like there is for coal, no Texas like there is for oil, no Pennsylvania like there is for natural gas, no national environmental movement like there is for wind and solar. Nuclear has always been a national asset, and now it’s suffering from hostile regional forces.

There isn’t even much of an industry for nuclear since it requires so few people and infrastructure to produce so much energy. With a pound of nuclear fuel producing the same energy as 11 million pounds of coal, there just isn’t the same effect in manpower or geography.

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