As companies such as South Carolina Electric & Gas, Duke Energy and Georgia Power gear up to build a new generation of nuclear plants to meet the need for electricity, job opportunities in building trades will open up
– By Clint Wolfe –
The call to create new jobs may not be heeded elsewhere, but in the electric utility sector, the resurgence of nuclear power is doing just that and should serve as a nationwide model.
As companies such as South Carolina Electric & Gas, Duke Energy and Georgia Power gear up to build a new generation of nuclear plants to meet the need for electricity, job opportunities in building trades will open up. Nuclear plant construction is a tremendous opportunity to make a significant impact on reducing unemployment, but the need for skilled manpower poses a challenge.
An estimated 350,000 people will be needed to build and operate 45 new nuclear plants and to manufacture plant components such as reactor pressure vessels, heat exchangers, valves, pumps, piping and tubing. But 35 years have passed since the last nuclear plant was ordered in the United States, resulting in a shortage of nuclear-qualified welders, pipefitters, masons, ironworkers, electricians and other skilled workers in the building trades.
A major effort will be required to train, support and retain large numbers of construction workers. One company preparing to build a new nuclear plant in Maryland has formed a partnership with organized labor to establish a training institute for craft workers. An estimated 11,000 workers will be needed to build the nuclear plant and supply the plant components and equipment. Construction of this plant and others is expected to begin in 2012 and 2013.
So far more than 15,000 jobs have been created as a direct result of the planning for new nuclear plants. Two big companies, Northrop Grumman and Areva, invested $360 million in a manufacturing facility in Newport News, Va., to build reactor components. Alston set aside $200 million to expand its turbine manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. Other companies engaged in manufacturing and nuclear technical services have expanded their facilities in North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Indiana.
Private industry is engaged in preparing to support the construction of multiple nuclear plants. Congress should also actively support the development of nuclear suppliers and jobs. Legislation to increase the level of government loan guarantees for nuclear plant construction would send a strong message of the government’s commitment to the nuclear renaissance and provide assurances to the business community that investing in the nuclear industry is a sound business decision.
Each new unit is expected to cost about $7 billion. Obtaining the necessary financing from Wall Street banks requires support in the form of loan guarantees. To date, Congress has authorized $18.5 billion for loan guarantees. Experts say much more in loan guarantees is needed to ensure nuclear plant construction. These arrangements are taxpayer friendly in that they provide both short and long term stimulus for new jobs while costing the taxpayer virtually nothing.
Congress needs to create a federal mechanism for loans and other credit in support of clean energy technologies, including nuclear power, to provide the level of financial stimulus necessary to meet the nation’s climate and energy goals. Earlier this year the House of Representatives passed a bill creating the Clean Energy Deployment Administration to provide that support. The Senate needs to concur or to improve on that concept.
Congress also should provide tax credits to defray the cost of training workers to build and operate nuclear plants and to produce components for the plants. This would be a wise investment, because in addition to the thousands of construction jobs created, each new reactor project generates an equivalent number of additional jobs within the local community and produces an estimated $430 million annually in spending on goods, services and labor. Based on existing plants, a new plant will generate more than $20 million a year in state and local tax revenue in addition to federal tax payments of $75 million.
When you consider the factors crucial to maintaining a successful economy, employment is right there at the top. Because of the short-term urgency Congress has focused on a stimulus approach aimed at “shovel ready” projects. Now they should look ahead to merging longer term stimulus needs with longer term clean energy needs. Nuclear power is the right solution to that equation.
Clint Wolfe is executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness and chairman of the Public Task Force of Carolinas Nuclear Cluster. He can be reached at cnta@bellsouth.net.