Sen. Craig rallies support to build $1.1 billion project at INEEL-Reactor would extract hydrogen to power vehicles

Idaho may become the proving ground for a safer and more efficient kind of nuclear reactor — one that also would produce a non-polluting fuel that could wean America from dependence on foreign oil — if a proposal launched Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig becomes law.

The Idaho Statesman

Craig, Idaho´s senior senator, wants the federal government to spend $1.1 billion to build the new reactor at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in eastern Idaho.

The reactor not only would generate electricity, but also would extract hydrogen from water. The hydrogen would be used in fuel cells that could power cars and trucks.

If the demonstration project meets its objectives, it could serve as a model for “hundreds” of next-generation nuclear reactors built by private-sector energy companies, said Ralph Bennett, director of advance nuclear energy at INEEL.

Bennett said “several hundred” scientists would be employed during the project´s first stages of research and development, and about 1,000 workers would be needed to build the reactor.

Craig´s dream of building a new-generation nuclear reactor in eastern Idaho isn´t a sure bet. But the Idaho Republican has at least one powerful friend on his side — Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

At Craig´s behest, Domenici inserted a provision into the Senate energy bill to authorize Congress to spend $1.1 billion over the next 10 years to build the demonstration reactor.

Domenici is also chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that in future years would allocate money for the project.

Last year, the Energy Department officially designated INEEL the nation´s lead nuclear research lab.

“Sen. Craig has been working on this for a number of years now, and all has fallen into place,” his spokeswoman, Emilee Venn, said Wednesday. “We have a president and a vice president committed to nuclear energy and who understand the need for clean energy.

“All the stars are aligning right now to get this done.”

The reactor project also could benefit from the fact that it would help further two of President Bush´s top priorities:

• It would help jump-start the nation´s moribund nuclear energy industry, which hasn´t developed a major new reactor design and built it in this country since the 1960s. Last year, the Bush administration announced a major push to help private industry get a nuclear power plant built by 2010.

• The reactor would generate both hydrogen and electricity. In his State of the Union address in January, Bush said he wants to more than double federal funding next year for hydrogen fuel cell research.

However, the project must survive Senate committee hearings — which are to begin next week — and a committee vote.

Other provisions in the energy bill could spark fierce debate that could scuttle the whole bill, such as a proposal that would allow states to band together to regulate electricity providers.

The House energy bill does not have the INEEL project in it, and it is not yet clear who on the House side with enough seniority would carry the ball for Craig.

Then there´s the general problem of tough economic times and the high cost of the war in Iraq.

“Not even the Republican Senate is allowing the president a free hand on tax cuts. I can´t imagine that this is the right time to be introducing this,” said Steven Dolley, research director of the Nuclear Control Institute, a nuclear-power watchdog group.

This project “strikes me as somewhat of a cynical attempt to grab onto renewable energy and energy efficiency by grafting on the hydrogen generation aspect,” Dolley said. “They´re trying to paint the reactor green and capitalize on the president´s hydrogen initiative.”

INEEL´s Bennett said the demonstration reactor would be an ideal project for the lab´s new role.

“This would really complete the picture that the president is trying to create. It fits right in with what he said in his State of the Union address,” he said.

Bennett said the reactor must be designed to meet four key criteria:

• Economics: It must be able to produce electricity for about 3 cents per kilowatt hour, equal to a modern gas-fired power plant.

• Safety: The reactor must be built with new materials that can withstand high temperatures and avoid a core meltdown.

• Waste: The reactor must burn its uranium fuel more efficiently so that less waste is produced per unit of electricity generated.

• Proliferation: The reactor must burn its fuel so thoroughly that the spent fuel will not be attractive to countries that would steal it to make weapons.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/News/story.asp?ID=36200