Nuclear power already has a home in Maryland at Calvert Cliffs, but? if the Maryland Public Interest Research Group has its way ? it won?t be welcoming any new neighbors.
Maryland PIRG has formally announced its opposition to the possible development of a more than $2.5 million, 1,600 megawatt third reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. Part of its No New Nukes campaign, the group released the report “The High Cost of Nuclear Power: Why Maryland Can?t Afford a New Reactor,” citing numerous reasons why the group feels the project is not in the best interest of local residents.
“From our perspective, there is no reason to invest in a dangerous and expensive form of energy,” said Johanna Neumann, a policy advocate with Maryland PIRG.
Constellation Energy Group, the Baltimore-based power provider that owns the other two reactors, has yet to even submit a proposal for the construction of a third.
“The governor is obviously committed to expanding alternative energy in the state of Maryland,” said Rick Abbruzzese, press secretary for the governor?s office. “But we are looking at Maryland PIRG?s report and have not formed any conclusion as of yet.”
Tracy Imm, a spokeswoman for Constellation, indicated that the company is still very much in the research and evaluation stages, even noting that another Constellation-owned nuclear facility, Nine Mile Point, near Oswego, N.Y., is a possible destination for the addition of a reactor.
Despite the federal government offering a total of $13 billion in nuclear power plant construction subsidies and around $300 million in tax breaks from Calvert County, Imm indicated that Constellation had yet to see any substantial offers from the state.
“While it?s true that the federal and local government had put ahead financial incentives out there, nothing exists at the state level,” Imm said. “It?s too early even to figure out what the construction financing would look like, but we have made a commitment to go forward and look at things.”
The Maryland PIRG report, released Tuesday, says that the 450 jobs the facility brings will cost taxpayers $750,000 to create each job, that 1,375 tons of radioactive waste created will pose as an attractive target for terrorists and that Calvert Cliffs has been fined for safety failures in the past by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Constellation told The Examiner that even if the company electsto pursue creating a new reactor, it would take at least three to five years to get construction approved.
