[NukeNet] Fresno considers nuclear plant

[MJ]

I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read "Electricity would be
low-cost or free to meet city residents' needs"  Gee - they told us that
Diablo's electricity would be "too cheap to meter" - MoJo

Fresno considers nuclear plant
Electricity would be low-cost or free to meet city residents' needs, sold
to PG&E to solve Public Utilities' money problems

By George Hostetter
FRESNO BEE

FRESNO - The Fresno Utility Commission's 11 members were directed last
week by City Hall to unleash their imaginations in coming up with ideas to
fix the financial mess at the Public Utilities Department.

Commission Chairman John Hutson has taken this broad charge to heart -- he
wants the city to consider building a nuclear power plant at the city's
wastewater treatment plant west of downtown.

Hutson is urging the commission to study the feasibility of building a
400- to 600-megawatt plant as a possible long-term solution to the city's
energy needs and Public Utilities' money problems.

On average, one megawatt can provide electricity for 1,000 homes. Hutson
says the plant could cost more than $1 billion to build.

The idea is getting a mixed reaction among some commission members and a
Fresno environmentalist, who said locally-produced renewable energy is a
worthy goal, but nuclear power is the wrong energy source.

The wastewater treatment plant is the perfect site because of its size
(about five square miles) and abundance of water (about 71 million gallons
of treated water per day) for cooling the power plant, Hutson said. The
power plant's electricity could be sold at little or no cost to Fresnans,
while excess electricity could be sold at higher rates to power companies
such as PG&E, he said.

The result, according to Hutson: Plenty of cheap juice for Fresno air
conditioners when the next heat wave hits, plenty of money to offset the
need for future utility rate increases -- he estimates the plant could
bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year -- and another
environmentally safe use for the treatment plant's water.

The 11-member utility commission, created this summer by Fresno Mayor Alan
Autry and the City Council, is charged with recommending solutions for
financial problems at the Public Utilities Department. Autry appointed
four members and each City Council member appointed one.
 




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"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."
Bush, June 18, 2002 

"War is Peace"
Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984

Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451
Cell: 805 296-0524

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