Idaho nuclear plant debated

PAYETTE, Idaho – An executive with a company that is considering building a nuclear power plant outside this southwest Idaho city says a decision to pursue permitting and construction could come as early as next fall.

Bill Fehrman, president of MidAmerican Nuclear Energy Co., told about 400 people at a meeting here Thursday night that more answers will be forthcoming as the company decides whether to build the plant.

For many at the meeting, the biggest concern about the project appeared to be whether there is enough water to go around. Payette is a high-desert town tied to farming and located near the confluence of the Snake and Payette rivers.

“Where are we going to get the water when even our farmers can’t get enough?” asked Kurt Key, a Payette carpenter.

The reactor would use an estimated 25,000 acre-feet of water annually, more than a quarter of the water stored in Lucky Peak Reservoir near Boise, Fehrman said.

The company has several options for buying water and is studying strategies to get it at the least cost and without hurting existing water users, he said.

Walt Bosse, a retired cement plant supervisor, quizzed Fehrman on environmental safeguards the company intends to implement

“If they have a problem, they’re going to flood the reactor,” Bosse said. “What are they going to do with that water?”

Fehrman said many of the details will come later when the company selects a reactor design and completes nearly a year of study just to determine whether to move forward.

If company executives give initial approval, the project would face another four-year review by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. As part of its review, NRC scientists would take an even closer look at the environmental issues, Fehrman said.

The idea has attracted early support from some.

Duane Youngberg, a Payette businessman, said he was excited about the plant’s economic potential and had no worries about safety.

“I pulled up a map of nuclear sites,” Youngberg said. “The East Coast is dotted with them. What do we have to be afraid of?”

Peter Rickards, an anti-nuclear activist from Twin Falls, suggested radiation is a chief concern and he urged residents to press lawmakers to enact laws to stop the proposal.

“Let’s not let it into Idaho,” Rickards said, drawing brief applause from the crowd.

Former Idaho Sen. James McClure has been hired as a consultant by MidAmerican, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., based in Des Moines, Iowa. That company owns Rocky Mountain Power, which serves eastern Idaho.

McClure, from Payette, told the crowd that a nuclear plant would be an economic boon to the community. He said the current assessed valuation of Payette County is just over $1 billion. Bringing a plant to the county, he said, would increase that value to as much as $10 billion.

“It’s a very, very good deal for Payette County,” said McClure, who supported nuclear power initiatives when he served as chairman of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Others were not convinced. Tim Kennedy, of New Plymouth, said the plant is projected to be built on some of his favorite hunting grounds, and he is concerned about living downwind.

“You’ll see me on horseback with a protest sign wherever you go,” he said to a round of applause.

The company – which has built fossil fuel plants and renewable-energy projects, but not nuclear power plants – has been doing geologic testing on 3,300 acres of private land about 70 miles north of Boise near Paddock Valley Reservoir.

This is the second nuclear power plant being considered in Idaho. Alternate Energy Holdings has said it wants to build a nuclear plant on 4,000 acres in Owyhee County near Bruneau, about 65 miles southeast of Boise.