Nuclear power amendment tossed

An amendment to promote nuclear power in Utah was dropped after legislators on Tuesday expressed alarms that the provision would send the wrong message to other states seeking to store spent radioactive nuclear fuel rods here.

During a joint meeting of two legislative interim committees, Rep. Bradley Daw, R-Orem, recommended adding language to a proposed energy bill that would encourage Utah to develop nuclear power to generate electricity.

"At our own peril of overconsuming oil and other resources, we should not ignore nuclear energy," Daw said. "There are several countries that have been very successful in productive nuclear programs. I, myself, have toured a nuclear facility at Diablo Canyon, Calif., and found it to be an amazing facility. We should look very closely in this state at promoting nuclear energy."

The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and is located in San Luis Obispo County. The plant provides power to 1.6 million California homes, about 20 percent of PG&E's total customer base, according to a company Web site. Unlike coal-fired or natural gas-fired power plants, nuclear power plants generate electricity without creating air emissions.

Roughly 95 percent of Utah's generated electricity comes from coal-fired power plants.

In spite of the apparent benefits of nuclear power, legislators were hesitant to adopt any language that included the "N" word.

Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, said Utah had taken a strong position against having the state serve as a repository for high-level radioactive waste.

"We are devoting a lot of resources to try to prevent that from happening," Becker said. "The signal that is sent by singling out nuclear energy I don't think is something that would get lost on the rest of the country. For us to be promoting nuclear energy particularly more than other resources in this state, I think sends a very strong signal that contradicts the position we've taken as it relates to high-level radioactive waste."

But Rep. Michael E. Noel, R-Kanab, disagreed with Becker's characterization of the issue, saying that Utah's position was simply that the state should not become a depository for nuclear waste that is produced in another state.

"I'm not sure the state has taken a position on taking care of our own waste," Noel said. "I'm not sure that by saying we promote the development of nuclear energy in our state would any way lessen the statement that the state has made on the storage of nuclear waste here."

Still, other legislators, like Sen. Beverly Ann Evans, R-Altamont, expressed concern over adding the language without having public input.