Unions and nuclear energy

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Sunday, September 30, 2007

By DOUGLASS CROUSE
STAFF WRITER

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has stepped into the fight over whether to renew the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant's operating license.

Chip Gerrity, president of the IBEW's state chapter, says his union's support of relicensing reflects the Lacey Township plant's economic importance for the state, along with its contribution to limiting greenhouse gas emissions and providing an alternative to importing oil.

The 35,000-member chapter recently joined the New Jersey Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy Coalition, which is funded by Oyster Creek's owner and includes industry groups and two other unions.

Gerrity worked as a welder for 16 years at the Salem-Hope Creek nuclear complex in Lower Alloways Creek, where officials at Public Service Enterprise Group are studying the possibility of adding a fourth generator despite a history of maintenance problems. He said he is convinced Oyster Creek offers a safe source of energy.

"Here you have a plant that operates at 95 to 98 percent efficiency," he said. "I don't know if a plant could do any better than that. If it's so imperative to shut it down, why aren't they doing that now?"

Opponents argue that the nuclear plant, the country's oldest, would pose an enormous health hazard if a serious accident or terrorist attack were to occur. Relicensing would give the plant a 20-year extension beyond 2009, when the license expires.

The issue comes as a state task force, led by the Board of Public Utilities, works on an energy master plan to govern the development of energy use and facilities over the next decade.

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