Winning a recommendation from the local zoning board, a
Colorado developer has taken the first steps toward developing Colorado’s first
nuclear power plant.
At a meeting Tuesday night, the Pueblo County Planning
Commission voted 5-3 to recommend a zoning change at a 24,000-acre property
between Avondale and Fowler along Highway 50. If the county commission adopts the
planners’ recommendation, the change could allow development of a “clean energy
park” that includes a nuclear plant and renewable power generation.
"People will see an increase in value of land around
the energy park," a report from KDRO News quoted project spokesman Donald
Banner as saying. "We need it for economic growth and for jobs."
He indicated the plant would cost between $5 billion and $8 billion
to build, require 400 to 700 permanent employees and create up to 1,000
off-site jobs.
The Planning Commission’s vote is non-binding. Banner has said the site’s
owners have not yet partnered with a company to build the plant. Even if county
commissioners approve the re-zone, the project faces a lengthy licensing
process through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
At present, there are no nuclear plants in Colorado,
according to the NRC.