At 4 a.m. March 28, 1979, the main pumps feeding water to a cooling system at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station failed.
The resulting chain of events became the largest nuclear disaster in the nation’s history. No deaths or injuries were reported, but political and social fallout from the incident brought development of nuclear power to a screeching halt for the last 30 years.
A current proposal by a Constellation energy affiliate to build a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby could be among the first in a new generation of nuclear power construction projects.
“It’s not necessarily that time has elapsed, but the safety factor is unmatched. No one can question the safety record … or the performance record of nuclear today,” Constellation spokesman Rob Gould said.
The state Public Service Commission held a hearing Monday in Solomons, near Lusby in Southern Maryland, for public feedback on the project. But that hearing was just the first step in a complex local, state and federal approval process that could take years to complete.
Gould said current estimates put the reactor’s construction cost at between $4,500 and $6,000 per kilowatt generated, a total cost of between $7.2 billion and $9.6 billion. The reactor would generate 1,600 megawatts of energy, enough to power 1.6 million homes. That energy would go back onto the regional grid.
Maryland is a net importer of electricity, pulling more energy off of the regional grid than it produces onto it. A PSC report earlier this year said growing demand, a lack of new generation and inadequate transmission capability could result in brownouts or rolling blackouts by 2011.
The new reactor could make up much of the state’s energy shortfall, but would not be operational until approximately 2016, Gould said. Before it can go online, state and federal regulators must approve the construction and operation of the reactor, and local officials must sign off on its environmental impact.
The PSC could reach a decision by December, spokeswoman LaWanda Edwards said, just over a year after the company filed an application to build the plant.
Gould said Constellation would decide whether to go forward with preliminary site work by next year.
The reactor would be built in partnership with French firm EDF, the world’s largest nuclear operator. The two companies formed a joint venture last year, with Constellation looking to benefit from the European firm’s expertise.
At a shareholders’ meeting last month, Constellation President and Chief Executive Officer Mayo Shattuck said a cost estimate is expected next year. Constellation has publicly identified sites in New York, Missouri and Pennsylvania for nuclear plants.
However, Shattuck also looked for loan guarantees from state and federal government to protect the company should the project fall through.
“The capital markets are not prepared to finance the cost of new nuclear plants,” he said. “We need a jump-start — not a subsidy — in the form of federal loan guarantees.”
