May 5, 2010 - In a unanimous decision last week, Payette County commissioners approved a change to the county's comprehensive plan that represented a major hurdle for Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc.'s efforts to build a nuclear plant there. The commissioners' action raises some concerns for Emmett residents.
"This important decision sets the stage for the final step for approval of a large advanced nuclear power plant and also gives a strong indication of support by county leaders resulting in a win-win for AEHI stakeholders including the many benefits to the county, state and region for low-cost, clean, reliable power, not to mention rewarding our investors for their support," AEHI CEO Don Gillispie said.
The change creates a footprint for industrial uses in an area once designated for the sole purpose of agriculture. More specifically, the wording will allow for an industrial complex on a 5,000-acre parcel near Big Willow Road and Stone Quarry Road, just a few miles from New Plymouth, as long as that industrial purpose involves a nuclear power plant.
"This vote affirms the will of the majority of residents of Payette County who have told us and the commissioners they want a nuclear power plant in their community. They want the jobs and the financial stability for the towns in which they live - something our plant can and will create," Gillispie said.
Idaho Downwinders Director Tona Henderson, of Emmett, is concerned on two fronts:
"What will they do with the waste from the nuclear plant? There are 103 nuclear plants in operation (in America) right now," Henderson said. Most of these locations have been storing the waste on-site, some for as many as 30 years. There are reports that some containers have begun to leak, Henderson said. "I'm concerned the waste from the Payette site would be stored on site."
Henderson's second concern has to do with the geography of the area. About 40 years ago, the Idaho Geological Survey did a study of oil and gas reserves in southwest Idaho, according to a book Henderson has read.
