New Series: Just Because No One is Listening...

Just Because No One is Listening...

Doesn't Mean I Have to Stop Speaking

< >

Today's topic is Exelon, the corporation, not the drug. Exelon is one of the nation's largest electric utilities - it has more than $18 billion in annual revenues. The company is headquartered in Chicago and distributes electricity to around 5.4 million customers in northern Illinois and southeastern Pennsylvania with an additional 486,000 natural gas customers in the Philadelphia area.

The CEO, John W. Rowe, gave a keynote address in Hollywood, Florida today to a group hosted by the American Nuclear Society. In that speech one of the things he said was, "The country needs nuclear power if it is going to tackle the problem of climate change, clean up our generation stack, maintain reliability and improve overall energy security. But we must keep our hopes for new nuclear generation harnessed to facts. Nuclear power is a business and not a religion."

Rowe's full speech can be viewed/downloaded here John Rowe speech August 15, 2011 to the American Nuclear Society. I am not exactly sure what this "new" nuclear is that Mr. Rowe talks about, my gut tells me it may be a new marketing tool given some of the negative events of past years. I was taken with his four criteria that must be met before the 'new nuclear renaissance' can become a reality.

Here is Mr. Rowe's criteria-list:

1. We must have the right reactor technology.
2. We must have a workable solution to the waste problem.
3. There must be a need for a new generation.
4. There must be a shortage of natural gas and stable high prices to make the economics right

I would have made 'a workable solution to the waste problem' number one on my list, but I am delighted it made the list at all. John Rowe went on to add this little comment to having a workable solution: "The Blue Ribbon Commission has offered a road map. But it will take the federal government and national political will to make it a reality. Unfortunately the federal government is further away from keeping its promise on waste disposal than ever and this condition cannot be met"

My mantra has become 'We cannot move forward with new nuclear power plants or continue to produce power from our old nuclear power plants until a solution is found for permanent storage of used/spent nuclear waste." It has to be the #1 priority.

glow worm over & out