 Exelon Nuclear Corp is scheduled to build a nuclear power plant at McFaddin (about half way between Refugio and Victoria) in the near future. While not actually in Refugio County, this plant will, nevertheless, affect Refugio County. The Refugio Independent School District extends into that region of McFaddin and encompasses most of the area to be occupied by the plant. This represents a sizeable increase in the tax base of Refugio ISD, the largest of the three school districts in the county.
All four Refugio County cities are close enough
to supply housing for the families representing the 800 permanent jobs created for the continuous operation of the plant. Also, during the seven years necessary to build the plant, several thousand construction jobs at various times will be created.
In December 2007, Exelon Nuclear announced that it selected Victoria County as its site in southeast Texas that will be the subject of a federal license application. This license, if granted, would allow construction and operation of a new nuclear generating station should the company decide to move forward with building one. Exelon Nuclear expects to submit the combined Construction & Operating License (known as a COL) application to the NRC in September 2008.
The Department of Energy projects that electricity demand in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas will rise 48 percent by 2030, which means that Texas will need 24 gigawatts of new generating capacity. The proposed two-unit plant would provide 3,040 megawatts of electricity.
Exelon Nuclear, headquarted in Warrenville, Ill., operates the largest nuclear fleet in the nation and the third largest in the world. In 2007 the corporation generated a record 132.3 million megawatts of electricity with an impeccable safety record. At the same time the plants prevented 121 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by eliminating the need for an equivalent amount of coal-based generation.
The company achieves its safety record by requiring a disciplined approach to safety, including governing procedures and standards that clearly communicate safety expectations, employee-driven programs that meet and exceed these expectations, and frequent systematic review and appropriate revision of policies and programs at every level.
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We receive more radiation sitting in our living rooms than is given off by nuclear power plants. A brick wall puts out 3.5 millirems of radiation per year but a nuclear power plant releases only 0.3 millirem in the same time period. In fact you can stand right next to a nuclear power plant and receive no radiation at all.
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People living in high altitude cities, such as Denver, receive twice as much natural radiation as do those living at low altitudes . . . yet the residents of such cosmically bombarded locales don't display any significant increase in the rate of cancer.
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A chest X-ray exposes a person to 50 millirems of radiation, and a coast-to-coast jet flight gives one a dose of 5 millirems. But the spokespersons of the antinuclear "movement" don't complain about those hazards.
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Antinuclear advocates exaggerate the dangers of plutonium. The substance is easily safeguarded because it's produced in very small quantities.
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If all U.S. power were nuclear in origin, the radioactive waste produced would amount to only the size of one aspirin tablet per person per year.
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The production of nuclear power does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as does the buring of fossil fuels. The emission of carbon dioxide is a major contributor to global warming.
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The domestic production of nuclear power reduces our dependancy on foreign oil sources. |
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