Nuclear facilities winning support in Eastern Idaho

IDAHO FALLS — Most of the 350 people who attended a public hearing about bringing additional nuclear facilities to eastern Idaho to reprocess spent nuclear fuel favored the idea.

But some at Thursday's event questioned the benefits of the plan and said more time was needed to discuss the issue before making a decision.

The U.S. Department of Energy initiative — the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership — wants to recycle spent nuclear fuel and reduce the amount of waste requiring permanent disposal.

The plan also aims to tackle nuclear proliferation concerns through a program that would provide nuclear fuel to developing countries that agree not to process their own.

Supporters of the plan say it would reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels, while providing a practical way to meet the world's exploding energy needs.

The facilities would create thousands of jobs to whichever of the 13 applicants in eight states ends up with the facilities. A series of public hearings like the one in Idaho Falls have already been held at many of the other possible sites.

"Obviously, we're seeing the mobilization of a lot of people in support of this," said Richard L. Black, associate deputy assistant secretary in the DOE's Office of Nuclear Power Deployment, the Post Register reported.

Eastern Idaho is already home to the Idaho National Laboratory, an 890-square-mile federal nuclear research area.

"All of us are proud of our work here over the years," said John Flinn, president of the INL Retired Employees Association. "We pioneered technologies that will be the building blocks of the GNEP."

Beatrice Braillsford of the Snake River Alliance, which opposes the project, said the group doesn't believe it's a recycling plan or a research project. She also said the Department of Energy is making a decision too quickly.

"This process is important," she said. "Fifteen months doesn't actually give a lot of time for dialogue."

The department wants to build a reprocessing plant for spent nuclear fuel, a reactor to use the fuel to generate electricity, and a center for research and development.

Two more public hearings are planned, one in Washington, D.C., and another in Hood River, Ore.