Exec predicts a revival of nuclear power

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 10:46 a.m.

A top nuclear power executive says the industry is on the verge of a renaissance, whether or not a permanent high-level radioactive waste repository is built.

But the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, acknowledging that deregulation of power makes nuclear energy attractive, says the public will not allow more nuclear plants until there is a permanent tomb for the spent fuel they create.

The comments, made by Corbin McNeill, co-chief executive officer of the nuclear power Exelon Corp. and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Meserve in speeches at different conferences in the past month, shed light on how a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 mines northwest of Las Vegas, is figuring into the national debate over power.

The Department of Energy is expected to recommend in June the Yucca Mountain site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as a repository. If the president and Congress accept the site, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could license it to accept nuclear waste by 2010.

The next phase for nuclear power is "absolutely" not waiting for a permanent repository to open, McNeill said Dec. 1 at a conference sponsored by Energy Daily, an industry trade publication.

Instead, the federal government has committed to taking responsibility for the waste, he said.

Another option, he said, is the nuclear waste issue could be privatized at potential storage sites in Utah and Wyoming.

McNeill heads one of the largest nuclear partnerships in the nation. In October PECO Energy merged with Unicom to form Exelon Corp., based in Chicago. The company operates the largest fleet of nuclear plants capable of producing 16,500 megawatts, enough electricity to power 1.6 million homes.

There hasn't been a new nuclear plant ordered in the United States for more than 20 years, McNeill said, but public demand for cleaner air will help revive the nuclear industry, he predicted.

Each year more than 100 nuclear plants in the U.S. prevent millions of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollutants from entering the air, he said.

"As a matter of fact, most states would probably not be able to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act if it weren't for nuclear power," he said in a speech.

However, the NRC's Meserve told industry executives at a Nov. 13 conference that without solving the problem of disposing of spent reactor fuel, the "quiet renaissance" of U.S. nuclear power will wither.

The NRC licenses and oversees the operation of nuclear power plants and would be charged with licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain if it is approved.

Utility competition spurred by deregulation is helping revive nuclear power, Meserve said. But before Americans will accept more nuclear power, they have to believe the nuclear waste is dealt with safely, he said.

"The more general problem, and one that is not independent of the concerns about waste, is one of public attitudes," Meserve said. "As I have mentioned, the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) does not have a promotional role with respect to the use of nuclear technology."