Annapolis Update: Nukes

Ever since I e-mailed him about something a month ago, my District 7 delegate has been flooding my inbox with e-mails. Here's an interesting update on Nuclear Energy I thought I'd share.

Annapolis Update #4: Follow-up to Nuclear Energy

Thank you for the great number of responses you sent to the last update -- it was overwhelmingly positive, and has set up a great dialog on this important topic. Many people had questions and comments, and I'm doing this follow-up to give you the answers.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP? There are a number of things you can do to help generate public and political support for nuclear power: write letters to your local newspapers; contact your local, state and federal elected officials and voice your support for nuclear energy; call in to talk radio programs; spread the truth about nuclear power and our need for it to re-educate people who are fearful and debunk the negative myths.

WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH THE SPENT FUEL? Europe, especially France, is much more advanced than the U.S. in nuclear technology -- we are 30 years behind the times. The French reprocess spent fuel. Their new, modern fleet of nuclear reactors is state-of-the-art. They are constantly researching ways to reprocess, recycle, and dispose of nuclear waste. Each year the technology gets better, and it is concievable that what we now consider "waste" will in future be a valuable resource. And as a side note, the disposal facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada can probably handle 1000 years of waste, not taking into account any coming advances in treatment of nuclear waste.

CAN NUCLEAR WASTE BE SAFELY TRANSPORTED BY ROAD? It is safer to transport nuclear waste than gasoline or chlorine. This is because the same safeguards used for nuclear weaponry are also used in the transportation of nuclear materials. We know that a nuclear warhead can be dropped from an airplane and fall safely to earth without detonating or causing environmental damage, unless it is intentionally detonated.

WOULD YOU LIVE NEAR A NUCLEAR PLANT? Yes. I would have no qualms for my family. And a good bill to propose would discount electricity for those living in proximity of a nuclear plant, the amount of the discount depending on distance from the plant.

IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAPABLE OF SAFELY REGULATING NUCLEAR PLANTS? The government already safely regulates them. The government has its own reactors. The Navy has had nuclear submarines for 50 years without incident.

HOW MANY OF YOUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS FAVOR NUCLEAR POWER? I took a straw poll of our 23 members, and 75% are pro-nuclear, and 25% have an open mind about it. I don't believe anyone is totally opposed to it.

ARE THERE ANY OUTSTANDING NUCLEAR POWER COMPANIES? There are only a handful of companies that operate nuclear facilities. My personal feeling is that by re-regulating electricity production the energy industry in Maryland and throughout the country, the federal and state governments could play a very large role in moving toward clean, safe, and economical nuclear power.

IS THERE A WAY TO MAKE THE POWER GENERATED BY CALVERT CLIFFS PLANT AVAILABLE TO MARYLANDERS? There is a bill in this session (House Bill 624 - Energy Consumer Protection Act) to sell the cheap electricity produced by the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant to Marylanders first, rather than selling it out-of-state. This would help our electric rates to go down.

Rick Impallaria
Delegate, District 7
rick.impallaria@house.state.md.us