Nuclear power is on the rise

PHILADELPHIA — When Three Mile Island's Unit 2 sustained a partial meltdown 25 years ago, conventional wisdom held that the accident would cripple the nuclear power industry.

So much for conventional wisdom.

The United States now generates three times as much nuclear power as in 1979, by far the steepest increase among major sources of electricity.

Though no new reactors have been ordered since the TMI accident, 50 previously ordered units have been built, for a total of 103 in operation today. And owners have squeezed more power out of the old reactors, by burning more fuel per hour and by running the reactors practically nonstop.

Now, as the national thirst for energy grows amid increased concerns about environmental and economic costs of other fuels, nuclear power is enjoying renewed interest.

Owners are seeking to renew the operating licenses for older plants, 28 of which will expire by 2015. Among them is Oyster Creek in Ocean County, N.J., built in 1969 and tied for the nation's oldest.

President Bush is urging the construction of modern reactors, and the final version of the energy bill now before Congress is expected to contain incentives for that. Three companies, among them Chicago-based Exelon, parent of Philadelphia's Peco Energy Co., have applied for early site permits to build plants. None would be in this region.

Critics worry that the old plants are unsafe, and that the designs for new ones are unproven. Then there are the questions about terrorist vulnerability and where to store radioactive spent fuel.

Opponents of Three Mile Island, where two of the four cooling towers remain forever idle, say that society is forgetting the lessons of the 1979 accident.

"I think people have short memories," said Eric J. Epstein, chairman of TMI Alert, in Harrisburg. "I think the issue is not if we'll have another accident, but when."

Supporters counter that nuclear power helps ensure the nation is not overly dependent on any one fuel source, and that it causes no air pollution.

The burning of coal and natural gas — the other major U.S. sources of electricity — releases pollutants that can impair breathing and, according to many scientists, contribute to global warming.