OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Participants of the Nuclear 101 forum discussed the benefits and challenges of nuclear energy.

The five speakers at this week’s nuclear power forum for local leaders offered a glowing assessment of nuclear power and Dunkirk’s capability to host a plant.

They gushed about the economic opportunities it could bring — and assured there would be no actual “glowing” in Dunkirk, as next-generation nuclear plants and waste disposal have enhanced safety measures.

The speakers were Keith Schue of Nuclear New York, a nuclear power advocacy organization; Andrew Whitaker of the University at Buffalo, who spoke at a previous forum in Dunkirk; Greg Lancette of the United Association of plumbers and pipe fitters (who commented on job opportunities); Hunter Dare of Oppenheimer Energy; and Carl Perez of Exodys Energy.

“What I tell people is that a nuclear power plant is actually just a fossil fuel plant without the fossil fuels,” Schue said. Both produce electrical power in the same manner, but the nuclear plant uses much cleaner fuel, he said.

His Nuclear New York organization was started to advocate against the closure of the Indian Point nuclear point near Oswego. The effort was successful, but the organization remained together to promote nuclear energy across New York State.

“What we have left, we don’t throw away into the atmosphere,” he said. “We save it, we contain it.”

Schue showed a rather dizzying array of available nuclear reactors on a slide. They come with a wide range of sizes and power-fuelling capabilities.

He claimed the newest nuclear plants have “passive safety” measures where “the physics of the plant itself help.” He said, “You’re not going to get a meltdown because the plant has the ability to dissipate energy.”

Nuclear power offers high capacity to meet year-round demand, which intermittent power sources such as wind and solar can’t match, Schue said.

“There’s a lot going on right now. Blue states, red states, they’re all investing in nuclear,” Schue said.

Whitaker — who said his positions don’t represent UB — opined, “I describe advanced reactors as adding flexibility to the energy mix.” Echoing Schue, he said “there are a spectrum of sizes and options now available to us.”

He suggested that next-generation nuclear plants actually produce useful byproducts, used in medicine, synthetic fuel and heat production.

“When we build a nuclear plant, the dollars stay in our state,” Whitaker added.

Median salaries at U.S. nuclear plants as of 2021 were $47 per hour, with a 33% female workforce. “This is an industry we ought to be courting in Western New York,” Whitaker said.

He said he asked a nuclear energy expert if the NRG plant site in Dunkirk, recently sold to Genover, had the room to host two 600-megawatt reactors. The answer was “yes.” A Genover representative attending the forum took a photo of the slide accompanying Whitaker’s words.

The site has barge and rail access, existing power infrastructure and rights-of-way, and is in “a community that knows energy” — all great assets for a nuclear plant, Whitaker said.

Lancette said he represents “the hard hats and tools in your hands industry.”

“We are tough. We make everyone work hard and learn a lot. But the opportunities are amazing… the opportunities are not short. These are generational opportunities.”

Many of them are in the nuclear industry, he asserted.

Nuclear power is a “high-safety-factor industry. Tremendous amounts of pre-planning and communication” go into construction and operation, Lancette said.

If it comes to Dunkirk, it would offer an economic boost for the whole city, including small businesses, he said. “To get your community a reactor, what that turns into… if you’re a restaurant, a car dealer, your community has made it.”

Whereas the first three speakers were almost entirely positive, Dare offered some notes of caution.

“Many utilities are afraid to build nuclear by themselves, because they have shareholders that push back on the risk,” he said.

He noted that so-called hyperscale companies, giant power-users like Google and Amazon, would be willing to help with the risk.

There is “demand without delivery” right now when it comes to power and Dare expects nuclear power to gain a developer model, similar to what the wind and solar industries have, in order to push construction of more plants.

Dare said only one nuclear plant has been completed in the United States since 2000. Meanwhile in China, 36 were built. Unless the U.S. builds more, China will overtake it as a nuclear energy producer by 2050, he said.

Perez spent some time focusing on the safety of nuclear power. He disparaged fossil fuels in comparison, stating they put their waste “in the water, and in my lungs.”

Perez explained that there are three categories of nuclear waste. High-level waste — “what you typically store deep underground” — is 3% of the total volume of all nuclear waste, but 96% of its radioactivity, he said.

There are various options for its disposal, including a fairly new technology using fracking methods to drill deep boreholes that take the waste on the bottom, he said.