Gov. Strickland: Nuclear Energy is NOT Green Energy

I'm hoping to spark a discussion about plans for a nuclear power plant in Piketon. A front-page Dispatch article reported Wednesday that Governor Strickland, Senator Voinovich and Rep. Jean Schmidt support such a nuclear facility being built by Duke Energy and the French nuclear energy company Avena.

My opposition lies in the fact that nuclear power plants can't compete in the free market. No insurance company would insure a nuke plant. The Price-Anderson Act makes the government the insurer of nuclear power plants which is a gigantic welfare check to the nuclear industry.

My understanding is that nuclear power is actually fossil-fuel intensive because of the massive energy required to extract uranium.

There's also the issue of the storage of radioactive waste and safety concerns. The Davis-Bessey nuke plant near Toledo very nearly had a catastrophic disaster just a few years ago.

Ohio would be much better off investing and encouraging clean, safe and renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal. Doing so would put thousands of people to work.