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Nuclear delegates attend Global 2007 on the Grove
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It was crowded in the main lobby of the Boise Center on the Grove Monday, Sept. 10. There was a definite hustle to the delegates from 20 different countries who showed up for the start of the week-long nuclear energy conference.
An aura of optimism pervaded last Monday morning’s gathering as if attendees came prepared to make nuclear history.
New nuclear fuel processes were introduced at the plenary session, along with a discussion of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and the proposed nuclear plant to be located in Owyhee County.
All 500 conference participants attended the Plenary session.
Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternate Energies Holdings Inc., a Virginia- based company, spent the better part of one hour during the opening session laying out the fundamentals of his company’s planned 1,600 megawatt nuclear power plant.
Gillispie said the plan was to sell 500 megawatts of electrical power in Idaho and to export more than 1,000 megawatts to neighboring states, mostly directed toward California.
The proposed site is 45 miles southwest of Boise near the Snake River.
Gillispie claimed a growth of support in Owyhee County and the resultant rise in local property values vindicates the project, but he then listed the benefits that would accrue to Idaho, such as cheaper electricity, tax revenues and a $1 billion boost to the state economy.
While speaking of increasing support from the national environmental community for nuclear energy, Gillispie mostly dealt with the issue of the ex-Greenpeace Chief Patrick Moore, whose pro-nuclear views run counter to the anti-nuclear stance of Greenpeace.
Gillispie, could not show that his company has garnered any local support amongst Idaho’s environmental groups.
“Only one of 12 Idaho based environmental organizations queried about the proposed nuclear power plant bothered to answer, and that reply was negative, the Snake River Alliance expressed their opposition to the proposed nuclear power plant,” Gillispie said.
In addition to the environmentalist’s woes, last May three national environmental groups publicly demanded that AEHI remove its names from the company’s Website, stating their opposition to nuclear power and damage to its reputations by association with AEHI.
Two Korean delegates expressed interest to learn more about the latest fast-breeder reactor technologies directly through participation in conference workshops. They believed that face-to-face contact is still superior to phones and e-mail when it comes to technological exchanges.
About 100 of the delegates journeyed from Asian counties, and about 200 of the delegates were from the United States.
Boise State University is assuming an increasingly important roll in the nuclear power field. A Master of Science in Materials and Engineering program is now offered through the College of Engineering. This program is dedicated to the improvement of nuclear fuel technology.
It is also tied in with the Center for Advanced Energy Studies. CAES will be centered in Idaho Falls, conveniently close to the Idaho National Laboratory.
Professor of Materials Science Darryl Butt, a BSU presenter, said he and his master-level students are working on important energy projects.
They are designed to make nuclear fuel more economical by using new production processes that reduce the necessary
production steps.
According to Butt, his research group is pursuing new production methods for the synthesizing of uranium monontride, an advanced nuclear fuel.
This fuel is used in so-called fast reactors, which have some desirable attributes over older style reactors due to the fact that they produce more nuclear fuel than they use.
“This is an important international meeting that is being held in Idaho for the first time.
“We have speakers from all over the world discussing nuclear energy and technologies for reducing green house gases and eliminating high level nuclear waste,” Butt said.
“It is an exciting time to be at an Idaho university and to be involved in this very important area of research and technology
development.”
Conference organizer and INL Technical Program Chairman Mike Goff expressed optimism at the tone of the conference, which is the largest such gathering ever held.
“This was a very critical time in the history of nuclear power, countries such as China, India were aggressively moving forward with advanced fuel cycles while we have not built any new plants in years,” Goff said.
“These conferences were a good place for these scientists and industry people to meet exchange information and promote
technical progress.”
CLAUDIO BEAGARIE
News Writer
