Going Nuclear

Going Nuclear by Jason Fults

Two events in the past week have had me thinking a lot about nukes. I am currently an underemployed electrician’s apprentice enrolled in the training program of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), local 1205. In class on Monday, our instructor bemoaned the current state of the economy, how unfortunate it is that so few of us are benefitting from on-the-job training at the moment, and how this is “the worst he’s ever seen it.” The only bright spots on the horizon, it seemed to him, are the proposed nuclear power plants in Levy County which, if approved, could potentially put an awful lot of union electricians to work.

Then, on Wednesday, I was at the downtown Farmer’s Market helping a friend show off a new type of solar panel and encountered a large contingent of folks who are none too excited about north central Florida’s nuclear prospects. Dressed in all manner of outlandish costumes, they led a boisterous march through the middle of the plaza, speaking out against “nuking Florida” and inviting citizens to attend a community forum on the subject November 23 at the Alachua County main library (details are available at http://www.nukeflorida.net/).

Personally, I am hoping for a career in residential electrical work, and am particularly interested in working in the solar industry. The idea of starting my new career off working on a nuke plant is a little disquieting, but honestly, any electrical work would be hard to turn down at this point. I can only hope that the positive example being set by our local utility, Gainesville Regional Utility (GRU), will take hold throughout the region. GRU grabbed international headlines over the past few months with the introduction of its solar feed-in-tariff and the approval of a planned 100 megawatt biomass-fueled power plant (http://www.gru.com/OurCommunity/Environment/renewGRU.jsp). GRU also has ambitious energy efficiency goals and, according to a recent customer bulletin, aims to generate 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2014 (http://www.gru.com/Pdf/CustomerBulletin/September_2009_v23_n12.pdf).

Will Progress Energy, a Fortune 500 company with $9 billion in revenues, follow a similarly progressive path, or will they continue to promote the risky, expensive nuclear option? Ultimately, it may depend on how many of us are willing to get involved and make some noise around this issue. Citizens groups like the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/Florida.html) and the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (http://www.floridaallianceforrenewableenergy.org/) continue to advocate for a renewable energy future for our state. Check it out, get involved, make your voice heard!