Nuclear Power Bill Clears House Committee

February 26, 2009

By JOE BIESK Associated Press Writer
Kentucky's longstanding ban on nuclear power plants would be
lifted, under a proposal that cleared a House panel Thursday.State law currently prohibits a nuclear power plant from being
built in Kentucky until there is a permanent storage facility to
contain the nuclear waste. Right now, there's no permanent nuclear
waste facility in the country.
"We are not on the map anywhere in the country to begin the
discussions of, 'what do we do in Kentucky on these issues?'" said
state Sen. Bob Leeper, a Paducah independent sponsoring the
legislation.
"Because you can't build one in Kentucky."
Kentucky has not allowed nuclear power plants since 1984, after
the General Assembly passed a law barring their construction until a
permanent waste storage facility was in place.
Leeper's plan would change that.
Leeper, who's western Kentucky district is home to a uranium
enrichment plant, said current technology has allowed for the onsite
containment of nuclear waste. Any possible nuclear plants in Kentucky
would still have to clear other regulatory hurdles before coming to
fruition, Leeper said.
"This bill does not site a nuclear facility; this bill does not
remove any other regulations that are required," Leeper said. "It
simply allows the discussion to begin."
Tom FitzGerald, head of the Kentucky Resources Council, an
environmental advocacy group, said allowing nuclear power plants to
operate without a permanent strategy for handling waste would pose a
health risk for thousands of years in Kentucky.
"Before you open a facility that is going to generate radioactive
and other high-level waste, bring us a strategy to show that you know
what to do with the waste once it is generated," FitzGerald said.
A proposed high-level radioactive waste facility at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has been
discussed since the early 1980s. Whether that proposed facility ever
opens remains uncertain.
Kentucky has its own history with nuclear waste.
An ill-fated nuclear dump site in Fleming County that opened in
the 1960s, Maxey Flats, stored about 4.75 million cubic feet of
low-level radioactive waste when it was operational. The facility was
an attempt to attract the nuclear industry to Kentucky, but it closed
in 1977 because water - contaminated by radiation - was found
migrating beyond the site's borders.
The House Tourism Development and Energy Committee approved
Leeper's measure on a 12-6 vote, sending it to the full House for
consideration. The Senate approved the bill on a 29-6 vote earlier
this month.
Gov. Steve Beshear's administration supports the plan. The
governor called for the state to re-evaluate its stand on nuclear
power.
"Kentucky must, in a bipartisan fashion, decide how aggressively
to move forward on an energy source that already accounts for 20
percent of the nation's base-load electricity generation," Beshear
said during his State of the Commonwealth speech earlier this month.
"Safety, of course, must be the top priority."
Nevertheless, Rep. Tom McKee, a Democrat from Cynthiana, said he
voted against the proposal because there's no sure plan for the
long-term handling of nuclear waste.
"To be very honest with you, this bill scares me to death," McKee
said.