It was in the Abilene Reporter-News this morning. Anyone know much about this?

http://www.answers.com/topic/springfield-nuclear-power-plant

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/080106/new_4807090.shtml


Probably have to register to read it... and it may not say any more than what you already read, but they also have a forum on there that's all abuzz about it.

Here is the story just in you dont want to set up an account.

Nuclear power plant sought




By Andy Obermueller
Copyright Amarillo Globe-News


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Amarillo developer George Chapman is attempting to bring an estimated $5 billion nuclear power plant to Amarillo.
A Chapman-controlled company, Amarillo Power, is proposing a nuclear power plant that, pending regulatory approval, could be completed and online within a decade.

Documents obtained by the Globe-News through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others show Chapman is proposing a two-unit, 2,700-megawatt advanced boiled water reactor designed by General Electric.

Chapman declined comment about the proposal late Monday.

The proposed multibillion-dollar power plant would generate enough electricity for 2.7 million homes. A megawatt - 1 million watts - is enough energy to power 1,000 homes.

The specific location of the facility has not been disclosed, but documents refer to the site "in the vicinity of Amarillo."

"Several sites are currently under consideration as potential locations. ... selection of the preferred site will be completed in the near term. All sites under consideration will be owned or controlled by G.R. Chapman Limited Partnership," documents read.

The ultimate cost of the plant is also unknown. However, an initiative similar to Chapman's proposal at a South Texas Project site is projected to cost $5.2 billion for two GE reactors, according to Nucleonics Week newsletter. The amount of water required to operate such a plant has not been determined.

Four of the GE-made advanced boiled water reactor units are in operation in Japan, another three are under construction in Taiwan and Japan, and nine more units are planned in Japan, according to GE. The design was certified by the NRC in 1997.

Regulatory involvement

NRC spokesman Dave McIntyre confirmed Monday that Amarillo Power notified the federal agency of its plans in March of this year. It had asked the agency to keep the proposal confidential, which federal regulations allow it to do. Amarillo Power sent the NRC a letter five days ago saying it no longer considered the information proprietary.

"Amarillo Power actually notified us in March, but did request that it be kept proprietary. But last week's letter said, 'We no longer consider this proprietary,''' McIntyre said.

The NRC is allowed to withhold trade secrets or commercial or financial information deemed privileged or confidential when asked.

Amarillo Power will seek construction financing before obtaining a license, documents show. The NRC is required by federal law to ensure the company meets financial qualifications to construct and operate a nuclear power plant.

The AEDC's questions

Chapman has also reportedly been in discussion with the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. and the city of Amarillo about the project. An official with the AEDC declined to comment, as have city officials. However, on March 20 lawyers for Chapman sent an eight-page letter to AEDC President Buzz David responding to a series of questions posed by the AEDC about the project.

Time frame

The document paints a picture of a tedious, years-long process by regulators to study every phase of any potential project. The NRC review of the site can take 24 months, and the steps leading up to the filing of an application with the NRC could take 18 to 24 months, once the site is selected. Construction would be a multi-year endeavor.

Chapman is proposing the power plant through the G.R. Chapman Limited Partnership and a subsidiary, Amarillo Power, which initially was organized as Pleasant Valley power in December 2005.

Chapman changed the name to Amarillo Power in April and has listed himself as president, according to papers filed with the Texas Secretary of State. No other company officers are identified.

The documents Chapman had given to the AEDC said the Chapman family intends to fund a charitable trust to benefit the Amarillo community with some portion of money the family receives from one of the two reactors.

Reporters Jim McBride, Kevin Welch and Karen Smith Welch contributed to this report.


[This message has been edited by venzor (edited 8/4/2006 3:57a).]

Thanks, venzor. I think the Abilene Reporter article I read was a scaled-down version of that article.

That could be interesting if it comes to fruition. It'd certainly create a few jobs in town, and some highly-skilled and well-paying ones at that. Those are the kind of jobs you want to bring to West Teas, because those nuclear engineers and other well-paid workers buy nice houses, drive nice vehicles, and spend a pretty fair amount of money.

I would assume they'd want to put it somewhere in the Pantex area, wouldn't they?

I always did want to glow at night....moreso than I already do when I'm at a gathering surrounded by my so-called "peers". This might finally be a chance for me to do that AND come back home.



On the serious side, it sounds like it would be construction jobs for a long time - it takes forever to get a nuclear plant built.

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I would assume they'd want to put it somewhere in the Pantex area, wouldn't they?

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Why? The two are completely different.

However, if it is to be close to Amarillo (less than 20 miles), the NE side of town is certainly the industrial side...Asarco, Bell, Xcel, Pantex, IBP, etc.

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Why? The two are completely different.

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I was just figuring that, since that area already has one nuclear-related installation, a nuclear power plant might be best received there rather than elsewhere.

Pantex is a DOE installation. A power plant would be private with government regulation.

Speaking only of radiation, Pantex is an extrememly clean facility. There are no processes used where nuclear material is manufactured or machined. The worst case scenario is possibly a small release of tritium gas, or a small dispersal of radioactive material if the conventional explosive goes off. The latter would be mostly contained, and easily cleaned up.

That's really a far cry from the Three Mile Island or China Syndrome problems that the anti-nuke crowd thinks about.

You may be partially correct that Amarillo is relatively conservative, and probably more open to a nuke plant. And we already have some nuke type scientists and technicians in town.

BTW, Pantex is a DOE site, but is run by a private contractor.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 8/5/2006 10:31a).]

Although, one other reason that they may locate the two next to each other is that there is a "no-fly" zone over Pantex that could be easliy expanded to include a potential power plant.

I could also see it going in close to the current Xcel power plant, which is closer to Amarillo, but would already have grid access points to sell the generated power.

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However, if it is to be close to Amarillo (less than 20 miles), the NE side of town is certainly the industrial side...Asarco, Bell, Xcel, Pantex, IBP, etc.

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Nope. Put it next to Bishop Hills, heaven knows they could use all the juice for the Festival of Lights ...