[NukeNet] QUESTIONS RE: [no-new-nukes-yall] Nuclear energy moratorium likely to hold fast in Illinois House

[Mark Haim]

Hello friends,

Is there anyone who has ready access to the language of the Illinois
moratorium law? If so, could this be posted to this list?

Likewise, does anyone know the gist, in lay language, of the moratorium
(i.e. does it establish certain thresholds, like an operating waste
repository being in place, before a new nuke can be built? does it require
no new nukes on economic grounds, as opposed to environmental or health and
safety grounds, etc.)?

Finally, does anyone know if this law has ever been challenged in court, if
the issue of Federal preemption has been raised, or if any other states are
working on trying to pass similar laws?

Thanks,
Mark Haim


-----Original Message-----
From: no-new-nukes-yall at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:no-new-nukes-yall at yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Joy Ezell
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 5:29 AM
To: no-new-nukes-yall
Subject: [no-new-nukes-yall] Nuclear energy moratorium likely to hold fast
in Illinois House



http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=89857
Nuclear energy moratorium likely to hold fast in Illinois House
by Phil Taylor
May 21, 2008
State legislators have stalled an amendment to lift Illinois’ 21-year-old
state moratorium on new nuclear power plants, raising old concerns over the
safe storage of nuclear wastes.
“Some of our members thought we were moving too fast, and I don’t have a
problem with that,” said amendment sponsor Rep. JoAnn Osmond (R-Antioch).
State budgetary matters have kept legislators occupied in recent weeks, and
it appears unlikely the amendment to l ift the ban will come up for a vote
before the legislative session closes at the end of May.
Osmond’s amendment to the Public Utilities Act of 1987 passed the Public
Utilities Committee by a 10-2 vote on April 2 after a short debate.
The amendment has 35 co-sponsors, but is opposed by House Speaker Michael
Madigan (D-Chicago), according to his press secretary Steve Brown.
“Speaker Madigan wanted to have further discussions about it,” Osmond said.
“I’m hoping if we don’t get it done by deadline he’ll extend it to veto
session,” meaning next fall.
Environmental groups opposed to nuclear power expansion in Illinois are
confident the amendment will not receive a vote this session.
“The bill is being sponsored by a House Republican” in an election year,
said Barry Matchett, co-legislative director at the Chicago-based
Environmental Law and Policy Center.  “It’s not clear how much room the
speaker will give her to talk about this bill.”
The bill still needs a third reading. Illinois’ constitution requires that a
bill be read a third time on the House floor before its sponsor can call for
a vote.
If the bill doesn’t come up for a vote this month, Matchett said it is
unlikely an amendment of this type will be considered during the fall
legislative session, typically devoted to appropriations.
“This is a big policy question, and it doesn’t meet the standard of bills
that are considered in the fall,” he said.
Illinois’ last nuclear reactor went online in 1988, the Exelon nuclear power
plant at Braidwood, said company spokeswoman Krista Lopykinski. Exelon
operates all 11 of  the nuclear reactors in Illinois, which provide about 45
percent of the state’s electricity.
Illinois produces more nuclear power than any other state in the country.
Proponents of nuclear argue that it is a clean alternative to conventional
fossil-fuel energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas. Nuclear power
plants emit no greenhouse gases and have low operating costs.
But increased demand for nuclear reactor parts has caused a sharp increase
in construction costs, which now run anywhere from an estimated $3-9
billion.
“Even with the new nuclear reactors that are being built internationally,
the cost overruns are staggering and they’re behind schedule,” said David
Kraft, director of the Nuclear Energy Information Service, the nuclear
watchdog group in Chicago.
“They’re experiencing two unanticipated things, which are critical: a
shortage of material of the type you need and a shortage of the kind of work
force you need to do the work,” he said.
New nuclear power plant designs on the market all include passive safety
mechanisms that activate independently of human operators.  Examples of
passive safety controls include cooling water tanks above the reactor core
that automatically empty in case of overheating. In these reactors,
temperature and gravity triggers the release of water rather than reliance
on plant operators.
However, if the Illinois amendment isn’t passed, new nuclear reactors cannot
be built without a “demonstrable technology” to safely store the radioactive
wastes.
So far, no such technology exists, and a federal repository at Nevada’s
Yucca Mountain will not be available until at least 2017, according to the
U.S. Department of Energy.
Still, utilities are expected to build 34 new reactors in the United States
as energy demand increases by an expected 30 percent by 2030, said Dennis
Spurgeon, assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the Department of
Energy.  He made the remarks at a recent nuclear energy conference.
Already, nine operating license applications have been submitted to the
federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval.
Exelon applied for and was issued an early-site permit for Clinton, which
would clear the federal regulatory path for construction of a new nuclear
reactor in Illinois.
“We don’t have any plans to build new plants in Illinois,” Lopykinski said.
She said Exelon obtained the permit to expedite building of a new reactor in
case of future need.

__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar

Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format
to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group
Best of Y! Groups
Discover groups

that are the best

of their class.

All-Bran
Day 10 Club

on Yahoo! Groups

Feel better with fiber.

Curves on Yahoo!
Share & discuss

Curves, fitness

and weight loss.
.
__,_._,___
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.energyjustice.net/pipermail/nukenet_energyjustice.net/attachments/20080522/1cb45531/attachment-0001.html