Early Bid for a Reactor Site Draws Opposition in Texas

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Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Twenty years ago, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rewrote its procedure for licensing reactors to cut the time it would take to build new ones. Now an important part of the system is getting its first test, as a Chicago-based nuclear utility clashes with a well-to-do group of Texas ranchers over preapproval of a site about 120 miles southwest of Houston.

The conflict involves the first application by a utility for approval of an entirely new site for a reactor without actually scheduling the construction of one.

In this case, Exelon, the utility that has filed the application, has stated that it will not build on the site unless business conditions change. Meanwhile, opponents of the project figure that if they do not object now, they will never have another opportunity, and they say they have found unique problems with the geology of the spot.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/25/business/energy-environment/25nuke.html