Little Reactors: Looking for the nuclear bonanza
On Monday area residents got another taste of the small modular reactor potential as Gov. Jay Nixon and other boosters visited the University of Missouri to tout a possible nuclear power manufacturing operation in Callaway County.
Expectation has ramped up in recent months as the consortium between Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Co. maintains momentum. The latest boost came with the announcement by Nixon of a promotional task force made up of presiding commissioners from area counties, with Dan Atwill of Boone County as chairman.
The prospect is to build smaller generating plants in the United States rather than rely on hitherto large plants made largely overseas. Not only is made-in-America encouraging; small generators have other advantages. They are less expensive to build and can be installed in series to produce large output. Ameren says it might add as many as five smaller units to its original Callaway Nuclear Plant installation, which produces more than 1,000 kilowatts. Additional units could be built locally and shipped to smaller generating operations everywhere.
Ameren figures just one of the smaller units would produce 9,500 direct jobs and more than 9,000 indirectly. Imagine the impact if five units are built and put into operation — or more.
The other huge development, which really has nothing to do with Ameren or Callaway, is the long-overdue interest in spent fuel recycling. Reconstituting and reusing fuel already used and in storage can power America’s nuclear needs for generations, not only saving money but mitigating concern over long-term waste storage.
It all adds up to a bright future for nuclear generation in a nation in need of a dependable, non-polluting electrical power supply. The new small modular technique fits right in, and according to Nixon & Co., Central Missouri is positioned to get in on the action.
Ameren and Westinghouse look forward to collaborating with University of Missouri campuses in Columbia and Rolla, and Nixon mentioned Linn State Technical College as a partner in producing trained workers for the enterprise.
Not many economic development projects can match this, and the enterprise would serve a basic national infrastructure need. Keep your fingers crossed.
HJW III
Cut the Wings of your Hens and Hopes, lest they lead you a weary Dance after them.
— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
