Activists: Reactor too expensive

Plant owner says shareholders will bear risk

Friday, April 24, 2009

"The High Cost of Nuclear Power," a report commissioned by the Baltimore-based environmental and consumer rights group, maintains that alternative energy sources like wind and solar can generate energy more cheaply than would a proposed third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. While the report, released in late March, focuses on America as a whole, much of its analysis focuses on the Lusby plant.

Energy efficiency measures could save more than five times the energy new nuclear plants could generate, the report concludes. A study in Maryland found that the state could reduce energy consumption by as much as 30 percent below forecast levels by 2025, the report said.

The economic crisis could also affect the viability of nuclear plants by tightening credit and triggering a decline in power use that would render new reactors unnecessary and unprofitable, according to the report. The reports says that Constellation Energy Group's credit rating downgrade and the resulting collapse in its stock price last year illustrate the pitfalls of nuclear investment in an uncertain economy. Constellation owns the current Calvert Cliffs plant and is one half of the UniStar Nuclear Energy consortium seeking approval for the third reactor.

The report also maintains that "the estimated cost of building a nuclear power plant has skyrocketed," more than tripling since 2005, rising faster than that of other methods of generation.

According to Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a firm that tracks capital costs for building new power plants, the cost of building a new power plant fueled by coal, gas or wind climbed by nearly 80 percent from 2000 to 2007. However, the anticipated cost of building a new nuclear reactor rose more than twice as fast as these competing technologies, expanding by 185 percent over this same period.

For example, AREVA, a French nuclear technology company whose products would be used in the anticipated third reactor, has struggled with delays and cost overruns in a project in Finland using the same Evolutionary Power Reactor or EPR technology as planned for here.

The report also criticizes federal government subsidies and loan guarantees for nuclear development; including as much as $13 billion in subsidies is allotted to the Calvert Cliffs third reactor.

Johanna Neumann with MaryPIRG believes Maryland is politically well-positioned to take advantage of the benefits of conservation and alternative power.

"Maryland has already demonstrated its intent on being a leader in energy efficiency," she said, including a law passed during the last legislative session making "homes and businesses more efficient by updating building codes in the state, basically modernizing building codes in the state. We now have cutting-edge appliance standards in the state, with goals updated and building codes [reformed], so a framework for delivering energy efficiency is in the state and we need to make sure all entities that have role to play in this … follow through and do it."

Off-shore windmills on the Atlantic coasts and "combined heat and power" facilities offer the best alternative energy prospects for the state, according to Neumann. Combined heat and power technology entails recapturing waste heat from small power plants used by some colleges, hospitals and other facilities and using it to heat rooms. Two of these systems, at San Mateo Community College District in California, reduced power usage by more than half and cut bills by more than $1 million annually, according to the report.

"We could get the energy from the two Calvert Cliffs reactors just from using these [CHP] plants more wisely. I think it's compelling," she said.

A UniStar representative voiced support for renewable energy and conservation, but said nuclear power will be important as well.

"We fully agree that wind and solar need to be an important part of our emission-free energy mix but also believe nuclear power must anchor our nation's clean-air portfolio. It safely and reliably produces electricity 24/7, and is not dependent upon the sun shining or the wind blowing," spokeswoman Maureen Brown wrote in an e-mail. "With regard to the potential for new nuclear generation in Maryland, if a decision is made to construct a new nuclear plant, shareholders assume all of the financial risk during construction. Once the plant is completed, customers reap all of the benefits of an economic source of electricity that does not produce greenhouse gases."

emitrano@somdnews.com