Idaho Welcomes New Uranium Enrichment Plant

Idaho state officials are jubilant, having courted the company with tax incentives.

Alluding to eastern Idaho's long experience with nuclear power through the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter said in a statement, "It's a great match that will result in secure jobs and a stronger economy."

Michael McMurphy, President of AREVA Inc., agreed. "While we had several attractive sites to choose from, we opted for Idaho Falls, which has strong ties to nuclear energy and which welcomed AREVA and its proposed enrichment facility," McMurphy said.

The Snake River Alliance, a nuclear watchdog and clean energy advocacy group, has opposed the construction of an enrichment plant since it learned about Areva's intentions in January. Although the alliance is based in Idaho, it is not the location that the group objects to.

"It wouldn't matter if Areva had chosen any of the other four sites it was considering for this plant; we would oppose it no matter where Areva planned to build," said Snake River Alliance Executive Director Andrea Shipley. "We oppose expanding uranium enrichment wherever it occurs. It is premised on expanding nuclear power, which is an expensive and dirty power source."

The United States derives 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, and prospects for more nuclear energy are rising as governments, industry and the public become increasingly concerned about global climate change.

Although there are other problems with nuclear power, such as waste disposal and the potential for devastating accidents, it emits no heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Of 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states, none is located in Idaho, although the Nevada-based company Alternate Energy Holdings is pursuing a plan to build 1,600-megawatt reactor in southwestern Idaho on land currently farmed for hay.

AREVA had considered sites in New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and Washington before selecting Idaho.

In wooing AREVA, the Idaho Legislature placed a cap of $400 million on the company's property tax valuation, provided the company spends at least $1 billion on the proposed plant; and it exempted AREVA from sales tax on production equipment.

The company has promised thousands of construction jobs and about 250 full time jobs with wages that average up to $70,000 a year when operations begin, projected to be in 2014.

AREVA will need a license from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and run the plant.

Only one uranium enrichment plant is currently operating in the United States, a facility in Paducah, Kentucky owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. That plant opened in 1952 as part of a federal program to produce highly enriched uranium for military reactors and weapons. In the 1960s, the plant switched to enriching uranium for commercial nuclear reactors that generate electricity.

Two new uranium enrichment plants are under construction - one in New Mexico, the other in Ohio, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The nuclear industry needs enriched uranium because the type of uranium atom that is easily split to unleash the energy needed to start and sustain a nuclear reaction - called uranium-235 or U-235 - is found in less than one percent by weight of uranium found in the ground, according an NRC fact sheet.

To make fuel for reactors, natural uranium is "enriched" to boost the concentration of U235 to about five percent. Enriching involves separating U235 from other isotopes of uranium.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.