Would-be nuke plant builder delays NRC application

A small Idaho company that wants to build a nuclear power plant has delayed
the date when it expects to apply for a federal operating license to 2011, a
year behind a previous estimate.

Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. chief executive officer Don Gillispie told
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission he now expects to apply for a
combined license for the Elmore County plant in the fourth quarter of 2011,
the Times-News reported.

Gillispie also told the federal commission he plans to seek licenses for two
other plants: one in Payette County in the second quarter of 2011 and one
for a site near Pueblo, Colo., in the second quarter of 2012.

Four years ago, his company suggested it could build a plant starting in
2008 at a site in Idaho's Owyhee County that's since been abandoned.

But Gillispie's plans have been pushed back regularly, highlighting how
difficult it will be for a small company to undertake such a large project.