At last week's energy conference in Richmond, McDonnell outlined his vision, which includes expanding traditional sources — coal, natural gas and nuclear power — and pushing alternatives such as wind power and biomass.
Virginia can blunt rising energy costs, help make the nation more secure, and create thousands of jobs by tapping its own natural resources, McDonnell said. That includes oil and natural gas fields, a uranium deposit potentially worth billions, and offshore wind.
None of this will be easy. Financing these ventures will cost millions — if not billions — of dollars, permitting could take years, and environmental activists have vowed to fight any expansion of fossil fuels.
Nuclear power
Another part of McDonnell's agenda is to revive the state's nuclear power industry.
He supports Dominion Power's effort to build a third reactor — which could power 360,000 homes — at North Anna Power Station in Louisa County. Dominion said it will decide later this year whether to build the reactor.
The federal government must offer more support, specifically loan guarantees and a storage site for nuclear waste, for the industry to take off, McDonnell said. It could be aided by the mining of an estimated 120 million pounds of uranium near Chatham. The deposit could be worth billions and create hundreds of jobs.
McDonnell didn't directly mention the mine, which is undergoing several environmental studies to be completed next year. He said that nearby Lynchburg, already home to a nuclear fuel processor and a reactor builder, should become the "nuclear capital of America."
No comments:
Post a Comment