Galena City Council nuclear resolution passes
12-20-06
Tim Bodony (KIYU)
 

On Tuesday night, the Galena City Council unanimously reaffirmed its support for the pursuit of nuclear power for the village.   

The resolution approved by the Council states that it is in the public interest to continue investigating a 10 megawatt power plant, designed by the Japanese corporation Toshiba.  It also calls for the initiation of formal environmental impact studies, and another round of communication with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  

Resolutions of support are slated to come before the City Council every two years as long as the nuclear project is being considered. The first such resolution was passed in December of 2004. 

Galena Special Assistant to the Mayor Marvin Yoder has been the city government’s point-man on the project since it was announced in 2003.  He told the council last night that over the next two years, the project will become more transparent and open to public comment, as more information is made available.

Yoder remarked that "this next phase is going to be a lot more study and a lot more attempts to get information to the NRC, which will all become public. There's not anything going to be built in the next couple of years."   

Yoder encouraged the council to pass the resolution, which it did without opposition. 

Yoder recently returned from a trip to Toshiba’s headquarters in Japan, where he met with corporate managers and engineers who are working on the 4-s nuclear power plant. 

He said that they all agreed to visit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington DC this coming February, at which time Galena officials would deliver the final versions of feasibility studies conducted this year.     

Toshiba might also be ready to begin the formal review of its reactor design at that time. 

The type of reactor being proposed for Galena has never been licensed for use in the United States, and will require a multi-year certification process. 

In the meantime, Galena officials are looking for more money to pay for the next round of studies, in the hopes of securing a site permit from the N-R-C and other agencies.