Benefits of Nuclear Power

“Nuclear Plants, Old and Uncompetitive, Are Closing Earlier Than Expected” (Business Day, June 15) did not mention key factors regarding the United States nuclear energy industry. 

Regardless of their age, all nuclear energy facilities are required to be maintained in top condition. Since 1990, the nuclear energy industry has invested more than $90 billion in capital expenditures to improve and upgrade facilities. Those improvements have helped yield a 33 percent increase in nuclear-generated electricity production over that period. 

The Energy Information Administration forecasts that electricity demand will increase 28 percent by 2040, the equivalent of 339 new large power plants. Meeting that demand with low-carbon electricity sources requires recognition of nuclear energy’s many attributes. These include round-the-clock production of large amounts of electricity to help stabilize the electric grid; clean-air compliance; forward electricity price stability; fuel and technology diversity; and high-paying jobs at facilities that can withstand extreme natural and man-made events. 

MARVIN S. FERTEL
President and Chief Executive
Nuclear Energy Institute
Washington, June 19, 2013

Nuclear Energy Institute Celebrates 60 Years

Navy and nuclear industry sign deal to fight workers shortage

The nuclear industry long has drawn employees from the U.S. Navy, so it makes sense that companies would look to the Navy again as the industry faces an impending shortage of skilled workers.

The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, which operates a large fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and ships, and more than 30 civilian nuclear energy companies recently signed an agreement that will assist in the recruitment of Navy veterans qualified to work in the field.

The Nuclear Energy Institute trade group has estimated that the industry will have to hire 25,000 more workers over the next four years to replace retirees and find new workers to staff plants now under construction in the southeast.

Under the agreement, nuclear-trained Navy personnel ending their active-duty commitment have the option of having their contact information forwarded to industry recruiters for companies participating in the program. And Navy recruiters will have access to the names of those enrolled in industry-training programs at about 40 community colleges across the nation.

"The beauty of this agreement is that it provides multi-avenue flow for training the next generation of nuclear workers, who can gain the skills and experience needed through formal education in or out of the military, on-the-job training or both that ensures a bright future in a growing industry," said Tony Pietrangelo, NEI senior vice president and chief nuclear officer.

Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp., which owns and operates the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, is one of the companies participating in the program.

FirstEnergy's Jennifer Young said the average age of the approximately 1,000 workers at the Shippingport plant is 49. Nuclear industry employees can retire as young as 55.

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Former Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson removed as chairman of Nuclear Energy Institute

The Nuclear Energy Institute removed former Progress Energy chief executive officer Bill Johnson as the chairman and a member of its board after his decision to resign as head of the utility that merged with Duke Energy earlier this month.

The institute, an organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry that participates in both the national and global policymaking process, requires that the chairman of its board be an executive of a utility and that board members work for a power company.

Johnson, a longtime executive of Progress Energy, resigned as CEO of Duke Energy less than a day after the two utilities merged on July 2.

For 18 months after the companies announced they would merge, Johnson was slated to become the CEO of the combined utility. But the new company's board of directors ousted Johnson and replaced him with Duke's CEO, Jim Rogers. The issue has prompted an investigation and hearings by the North Carolina Utilities Commission and attorney general's office.

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Nuclear Industry Sues to Reverse Grand Canyon Uranium Land Withdrawal

WASHINGTON, DC, March 1, 2012 (ENS) - The Nuclear Energy Institute and the National Mining Association, Monday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reverse the Obama administration's withdrawal of one million acres of public land in Arizona from uranium mining for 20 years.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the continuation of the government's moratorium on new hardrock uranium mining claims on land surrounding the Grand Canyon on January 9. The public land at issue is not within the Grand Canyon National Park or the buffer zone protecting the national park.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona, the industry lawsuit argues that Salazar "lacks legal authority to make withdrawals of public lands exceeding 5,000 acres."

The lawsuit contends that the land withdrawal is an "arbitrary agency action" under the Administrative Procedure Act, and that it fails to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to take the "hard look" at the withdrawal's consequences that the U.S. Supreme Court required in a unanimous 1989 decision.

Uranium mine in Arizona near the Grand Canyon (Photo by EcoFlight)

In support of their case, the two industry organizations cite the statement in the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 that, "Congress does not intend that the designation of wilderness areas in the State of Arizona lead to the creation of protective perimeters or buffer zones around each wilderness area."

"The proposed land withdrawal is not justified by information in the Interior Department's environmental assessment. The proposed land withdrawal is designed to protect against situations and circumstances that no longer exist," said Richard Myers, Nuclear Energy Institute vice president for policy development, planning and supplier programs.

"It is a mistake to judge today's uranium mining activities by practices and standards from 50 to 60 years ago," said Myers. "Yet that, apparently, is what the Interior Department has done in its final environmental impact statement."

The affected lands are situated in three areas, all in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon or Grand Canyon National Park, in Mohave and Coconino counties of northern Arizona. Approximately 3,200 mining claims are currently located in the withdrawal areas.

"A withdrawal is the right approach for this priceless American landscape," Salazar said on January 9. "People from all over the country and around the world come to visit the Grand Canyon. Numerous American Indian tribes regard this magnificent icon as a sacred place and millions of people in the Colorado River Basin depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation, industrial and environmental use."

The Public Land Order to withdraw these acres for 20 years from new mining claims and sites under the 1872 Mining Law, subject to valid existing rights, is authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

The withdrawal does not prohibit previously approved uranium mining, new projects that could be approved on claims and sites with valid existing rights.

Without the withdrawal, there could be 30 uranium mines in the area over the next 20 years, including the four that are currently approved, with as many as six operating at one time, according to the Department of the Interior's Final Environmental Impact Statement, FEIS.

Environmental groups and tribes applauded the withdrawal decision. Gene Karpinski said on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters, "This is a big win for all of us who care about protecting the Grand Canyon's natural splendor. Extending the current moratorium on new uranium mining claims will protect tourism related jobs, drinking water for millions downstream, and critical wildlife habitats."

But Myers says that "contrary to the assertions by the administration, today's environmental laws ensure that ore extraction and production at uranium mines have minimal environmental impact on the surrounding land, water and wildlife."

Uranium resources in the Arizona Strip represent some of the highest-grade ores located in the United States. These uranium resources are higher grade than 85 percent of the world's uranium resources, according to the Interior Department's FEIS.

These resources represent as much as 375 million pounds of uranium, approximately 40 percent of U.S. reserves and more than seven times current U.S. annual demand, he said.

The world's nuclear power plants currently consume more uranium than is produced. Current worldwide uranium demand is roughly 180 million pounds per year, but worldwide production is approximately 140 million pounds per year, Myers said. The balance comes from secondary sources of supply, including inventories held by the U.S. and Russian governments. U.S. uranium production in 2010 was approximately four million pounds.

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Nuclear Energy Group Sues Over Uranium Mining Ban in Arizona

By Edvard Pettersson

eb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Nuclear Energy Institute and the National Mining Association said they sued the U.S. to reverse a ban on new uranium mining on federal land around the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The two organizations, representing mining and nuclear power companies, today asked a federal court in Arizona to reverse a U.S. Interior Department ban, announced Jan. 9, on new hard-rock mining claims on about 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of land, according to an e-mailed statement. The lawsuit couldn’t be independently confirmed from court records.

Richard Myers, vice president for policy development with the nuclear power group, said in the statement that the proposed land withdrawal was designed to protect against circumstances that no longer exist. The land involved isn’t within the Grand Canyon or the buffer zone protecting the national park, according to the statement.

“Contrary to the assertions by the administration, today’s environmental laws ensure that ore extraction and production at uranium mines have minimal environmental impact on the surrounding land, water and wildlife,” Myers said.

Arizona Strip

The uranium resources in the so-called Arizona Strip represent about 40 percent of U.S. reserves and some of the highest grade uranium located in the U.S., according to the group’s statement.

Adam Fetcher, a spokesman for the Interior Department, declined to comment on the suit.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said when he signed the 20-year ban on Jan. 9 that it was part of an effort to safeguard the $3.5 billion spent by visitors to the national park each year.

“Tourism, leisure are very much a part of job creation of the United States,” Salazar said at the time. “The jobs associated to the Grand Canyon are not jobs that can be exported anywhere, those are truly American jobs.”

The ban will prevent new uranium and other hard-rock mining near Grand Canyon National Park, which was visited by 4.5 million people in 2010. Previously approved mining and new projects on claims and sites with existing rights will be allowed, potentially leading to development of as many as 11 uranium mines, the Interior Department said last month.

The 20-year ban on new mining claims was based on an environmental impact study prepared by the Bureau of Land Management, which estimated that as many as 30 uranium mines would be developed without the ban, according to the Interior Department.

Large stretches of very remote desert land, including an area tourists pass through on their way to the popular North Rim, were put off limits.

The case is National Mining Association v. Salazar, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona.

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Nuclear power operators purchase additional emergency equipment

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said its industry members unanimously approved an initiative to purchase additional on-site portable equipment that will be available to help ensure that every commercial nuclear energy facility can respond safely to extreme events, no matter what the cause.

NEI said utilities that operate America’s nuclear energy facilities already have acquired or ordered more than 300 pieces of major equipment. The initiative commits every company operating a nuclear energy facility to order or enter into contract for a plant-specific list of emergency equipment by March 31, 2012. The equipment ranges from diesel-driven pumps and electric generators to ventilation fans, hoses, fittings, cables and communications gear. It also includes support materials for emergency responders, including food, water and other supplies.

The equipment will supplement emergency equipment acquired by the industry in recent months following the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to help facilities safely respond to large fires and explosions. NEI said the new equipment will be stored at diverse locations and protected to ensure that it can be used if other systems that comprise a facility’s multi-layered safety strategy are compromised.

“The additional portable equipment will provide power and water to maintain three key safety functions in the absence of AC power and heat transfer capability from permanently installed safety systems,” said Tony Pietrangelo, NEI’s senior vice president and chief nuclear officer. “The three functions are reactor core cooling, used fuel pool cooling and containment integrity.”

The procurement initiative reflects the industry’s commitment to implement the “FLEX” strategy that it proposed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to begin incorporating lessons learned from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi accident as quickly as possible, Pietrangelo said.

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