THE ANTI-NUCLEAR MENACEOctober 2, 2007 -- In facing its energy challenges, is New York heading in the complete opposite direction as the rest of the country - and, indeed, parts of the world?
Last month, an anti-nuclear group, Friends United for Sustainable Energy (FUSE) filed papers opposing the relicensing of one of the Indian Point nuclear reactors. A three-judge panel must now consider FUSE's claims that the federal government hasn't exercised enough regulatory oversight on the Westchester plant.
The same month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission received applications to build and operate new reactors in Texas. The applications from NRG Energy Inc. were the first submitted in 31 years.
Nuclear-plant construction came to a screeching halt in the wake of the Three Mile Island incident in 1978 - even though America has never experienced a fatality, or even serious injury, attributable to nuclear power.
NRG submitted what are the first of what is expected to be a flood of applications in coming months for as many as 29 new reactors in 20 sites across the country, mainly in the South.
Such ventures don't happen in a vacuum: A company won't go forward with an application if investors aren't on board. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, U.S. power companies are now prepared to invest as much as $90 billion in nuclear power.
Even some environmentalists are having second thoughts about their longtime adamant opposition to nuke plants.
They understand that nuclear power is "clean": Unlike coal or oil, it doesn't create the greenhouse gases that many see as contributing to global warming.
Meanwhile, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy calls nuclear power "the energy of the future" and has urged Germany to rescind its plan to phase out nuclear plants. France relies on nuclear power for 78 percent of its energy.
But, as the FUSE filing shows, New York - notwithstanding its own soaring energy needs - seems poised to retreat from the working, safe, nuclear reactors it has running, just as other states consider building new ones.
If New York is to be so foolish, it shouldn't be surprised if businesses move to places better able to fill their energy needs down the road.
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