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Guv opposes nuclear plant in Utah

The guv is a closet liberal. This is evidenced by the fact that he has joined a government global warming panel, opposes a nuclear power plant, and many other things. I will not vote for him if he runs again.

I don't understand why DesNews insists on using Guv. If they are going to abbreviate, at least use Gov. It's ridiculous.

Utah is in many ways as liberal as California. This shows once again the limited understanding of Utah leadership and many of its citizens. The debate on this is emotional, not based on fact, and one that keeps Utah on the fringe of environmental reality.

Let's see, first jump into the sack with Schwarzenegger on global warming, which will be proved eventually to be like saying the world is flat. Kill the coal mining industry. Kill nukes. I guess we can just magically have electricity just appear out of the air. But then based on Huntsman's superior attitude & demeanor, I'm sure he'll be able to command it to appear. Watch for massive brown outs and black outs within just a few years, if not sooner. And I'm a Republican, who's sorry for how I voted!!

Where is Huntsman's logic coming from? He will drive all industry from our state. He has been an absolute disaster as a governor.

Again Huntsman disappoints. He opposes nuclear, the most efficient technology available, producing the most power from the least natural resource inputs. Would he have us continue importing more oil and natural gas for power plants, which are much less efficient, and the purchase of which enriches our enemies, be they islamic radicals or communist Venezualan dictators? Continuing to build new natural gas powered plants drives up demand for natural gas and its price, making it more expensive to heat my home. No one talks of the hazards of natural gas. At least two supertankers of compressed natural gas are imported into Boston each week. If a terrorist were to hit the transfer valve at the offloading point with a shoulder fired rocket it would have the same effect as a nuclear bomb. And Boston is only one port of many into which this stuff comes. Nuclear has to be explored and given full consideration.

Or we can continue with more coal fired plants, which are becoming cleaner all the time. I get warm and fuzzy knowing people risk their lives in dirty holes extracting coal. But hey, they are just nameless faces, half of them probably illegals (sarcasm).

It's been obvious for over thirty years that nuclear is the only large scale option for replacing greenhouse gas producing power production, but nuclear paranoia has pushed us in the other direction since 1979. I suspected Huntsman's global warming initiatives were political posturing; this position confirms it. We'll know greens are serious about global warming when they embrace nuclear power. Its the only option that allows us to meet the power needs of a modern society without producing greenhouse gases. None of the other options scale up to where they make a difference.

I agree with the general sentiment. The governor has turned out to be another RINO (republican in name only). He and Arnold make quite the pair. I donated and campaigned for him last time; never again. It's time the majority conservatives in this state elect a true conservative.

His statement is only a euphamism for saying "NO" in liberal bureaucratic-speak. He and our former "not over my dead body" governor share a narrow minded view of the world and of energy policy. The proposal to store waste out west and this current proposal are completely unrelated.

Using the "guv's" logic, then we should stop mining coal until we find a solution for CO2 emissions; we should stop drilling for oil until we bring global warming into check...

Also, please note that he used the liberal buzzwords, their panacea for power generation: solar and wind. Solar and wind are going to make everything all better and we won't need any other type of power...

If you look at the safety record it makes sense to have a nuclear plant in Utah. I support this lower cost and efficient source of energy.

No, I think the Governor is a "Closet Conservative" because he opposes putting Utah into a position where its energy will require all sorts of federal subsidies. Throughout the 20th century, nuclear power required the most subsidies of any energy source -- government subsidies for the insurance and waste. If nuclear is truly the way to go, let Wall Street put up the money and let the free market rule!

A few points:
1)Why does everything have to be liberal/conservative? Can't something just be good bad for the state?
2)TMI proved the system works and that nuclear power in the U.S. is safe. If you have to go back 30 years for an accident, it is safe.
3)Nuclear power doesn't pollute. The "waste" is almost entirely reusable fuel.
4)If you don't want to pay for a power plant, you sure won't want to pay even more to recycle spent fuel. However, a reactor that runs on spent fuel would really benefit this country.
5)The new Gen III and Gen III+ use passive safety systems that don't require an operator in case of an accident (operator error was problem in TMI), meaning they are even more safe than 30 years ago.
6)Nuclear power is comparable in cost to coal if coal power was charged a carbon emission tax. Nuclear power plants already pay a tax on the spent fuel they create.
Lastly, don't write a blank check to the company that would build a power plant, but it will most likely need to be subsidized since there will never be a tax on carbon emissions.

What does the Governor want us to use for electricity? He's opposed to coal and nuclear. As a nation we are now importing natural gas. Wind and solar are unreliable. Guess his "Turn off the Lights" debacle is his solution.

It is highly disingenuous of Gov. Huntsman to claim there are high risks involved with a nuclear reactor, and then refer to the Three Mile Island accident. We learned from the mistakes from Three Mile Island - the fact that the facility still operates and hasn't had any other kind of accident since 1979 proves that.

An ignorant Governor, leading an ignorant state. "Cleaner coal" is just another ignorant catchphrase from the coal companies that ignorant people believe - coal plants are one of the primary producers of greenhouse gases, and will be until they can implement technologies to capture CO2 emissions.

Solar and wind are suppliments not the total answer. If you really want to save the planet, then Nuclear is the answer. The Gov. needs to have his energy advisors look again. There have been drastic changes in Nuclear technology in the form of waste management. The problem is, he will not be in office when the brownouts occur. His predisessor will have to deal with his short sightedness. I guess another answer is to prepare all of the Citizens of Utah by having us turn off our power for 1 hour a night. I for one do not want to revert to past ages where electricity was only a luxury for the rich.

Okay, CA and UT cities are bailing out on coal-powered generation, are we going to pipe electricity from China? Are we going to have hundreds of acres of power generating windmills or solar arrays around the state? NO! Nuclear is the only environmental-friendly way to meet our future power needs with a small footprint compared to windmills and arrays. Huntsman is shortsighted and this is just another PR stand so Huntsman can get printed in the paper again...again...and again.

When Envirocare changed to EnergySolutions, didn't their media release mention they could now reprocess/recycle used nuclear fuel with their new partners/acquisitions? If true, seems like all the pieces are here but the plant...

I would like to hear what the Gov. wants to actually do for the state besides running away business. Think of the high paid jobs a project like that would create... Think how many lawyers could be employed for the next 10 years?

As a conservative, I get further and further dissapointed with the lack of vision that Gov. Huntsman continues to provide. He sold us out on legacy highway to make a deal with the devil. He fails to do anything substantive when it comes to tax reduction, yet the state continues to have surpluses.He funds and bloats education without doing any analysis, just giving in to the demands of UEA. And John, how much money does education and the rainy day fund need?

Give us some vision John.. Please!

I could see the writing on the wall when Huntsman was so opposed to nuclear waste in Utah. Unlike the products of the burning of fossil fuels, which can affect people hundreds of miles away, nuclear waste is safe unless you're close to it. Saying that there is no way to safety transport and store it in this state is absurd. There are places so remote and inhospitable that nuclear waste could be there for centuries with no effects to the public whatsoever. The people who rant against nuclear power would sing a different tune if their chosen sources of power, wind and solar, turn out to be inadequate and power shortages affect them. They are not the kind of people who would quietly endure brown-outs and power outages. I'm always appalled when our elected officials promote fear and hysteria. Fortunately, it seems that cooler heads eventually prevail. It's good to see so many here.

Go Nukes is absolutely correct. Silver Spooner Governator once again shows his inadequacies to lead this great state. Energy Solutions provides everything we need to have a wonderfully safe nuclear power plant. On-site nuclear waste disposal is ridiculous. So instead of one localized repository for waste the Guv wants to create multiple waste sites. Very nice.
Nuclear is also not the only way to go. it is part of the whole energy solution plan. we should be investing in solar power, wind power, etc. solar power is actually becoming quite affordable for home owners built right into the roof tops. we need contractors with more vision than what the gov has. Too bad Mitt Romney can't take over our state if he loses the pres. bid. He's a true visionary leader.

The governor has his head buried in the sand like an Ostrich. The longer we wait for the inevitable use of nuclear power the more it will cost, or does he want us to have a windmill in every yard at an approximate cost of $1,000,000 each? John Pingree was castigated for his forward looking approach to transportation by endorsing light rail which appears to be a success. We need a forward looking individual not someone filled with fear in order to advance the state and protect the citizens from huge costs for energy. We lived in a country for a year that had daily rolling blackouts and it wasn't fun. Let's fix our future energy problems now with the only viable answer - nuclear power.