From the Charlie O! (Duke Powers Goal):
The country's first new nuclear power plant in decades could be rising 50 miles southwest of Charlotte near Gaffney, S.C.
Duke Power said Thursday it picked Cherokee County off the Broad River as the site for what could be its fourth nuclear plant in the Carolinas.
The announcement pulls the national spotlight to the Carolinas, as utilities work to be among the first to build the next generation of nuclear plants -- and secure some of the billions in government incentives that come with that. Two of the furthest along are Duke, the Carolinas' largest utility, and Raleigh-based Progress Energy Inc.
And don't forget the jobs!
Duke, which would develop and operate the plant with Atlanta-based Southern Co., said the plant could cost between $4 billion and $6 billion and create up to 1,000 construction jobs and 800 full-time operations jobs.
[sarc alert] The economic impact could be enormous: 1000 jobs for 5 years at $50k each is a $250 million injection into the local economy. With a multiplier of 12, the economic impact is $3 billion. The full-time jobs would lead to an annual injection of $40 million. With a 10% discount rate, the present value in perpetuity is $400,000 million. With a multiplier of 12, count on a $4.8 billion economic impact.
And why are we getting two plant permits in the south?
It's also not surprising most of the nuclear activity in the country so far has been in the South, said David Schanzer, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott.
Besides being more appreciative of the jobs a nuclear plant creates and an increase to its tax base, "the South is not known for being a hotbed of gonzo environmentalism," Schanzer said.
