[ RadSafe ] Entergy president says nuclear power key to independence (plus new pictures from "The Flower Fields" Carlsbad, CA)

[Sandy Perle]

NOTE:  New pictures from "The Flower Fields" Carlsbad, CA
http://sandy-travels.com/carlsbad.shtml

Index:

Entergy president says nuclear power key to independence

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The head of Entergy Corp. says nuclear power is 
the way to go to reduce the country's reliance on foreign oil and 
avoid the rising costs of natural gas.

"I don't think there's any question that nuclear power is the only 
solution," Entergy president J. Wayne Leonard said at the utility's 
annual shareholders meeting in Little Rock.

Leonard said the country's energy policy should focus on reducing 
pollution caused by coal-fired plants and developing "zero-emissions 
plants through nuclear technology."

"We've tried hedging strategies to buy natural gas, but there's only 
so much you can do," he said. "Liquid natural gas is years away. 
There's a lack of new technologies that have proven effective. And 
hydrogen, while it gets a lot of talk, requires natural gas to form 
and it produces more carbon dioxide.

"With the industry now conceding the problem of global warming, we 
absolutely have to have nuclear power along with the efficient use of 
coal in order to have a sound energy policy," he said.

Leonard noted that well-head prices for natural gas were more than 
twice as high as in 2000, and said that nuclear power once plagued by 
safety concerns in the 70s and 80s has regained the confidence of 
politicians and the public.

Last month, President Bush said nuclear energy was the most promising 
step toward increased energy independence and he called for new 
construction of nuclear power plants. The United States has 103 
commercial nuclear plants that provide about 20 percent of the 
nation's electric power. But none has been built since the 1970s.

Currently, Entergy has an early site permit pending with the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission to build a second reactor at Entergy's Grand 
Gulf plant at Port Gibson, Miss.

Entergy Arkansas Inc., which is part of New Orleans-based Entergy 
Corp., is Arkansas' largest electric utility with about 667,000 
residential, commercial and industrial customers. It operates a 
nuclear power plant near Russellville.

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Sandy Perle 
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations 
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc. 
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