With gas at $4 and no signs of decreasing, the push for energy independance is again on the forfront. The thought is that increasing the number of nuclear power plants would help reduce oil consumption. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Brighton Republican whose district includes much of northern Oakland County, wants to build 30 new nuclear plants to help the United States to attain energy independence by July 4, 2015. Rogers says the increased nuclear presence will save the US 150,000 barrels of oil per day.
DTE Energy is looking for approval to start adding nuclear plants to the mix. A 22,000-page application for the project will be to be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by September, according to Ron May, DTE’s senior vice president for major enterprise projects. DTE Energy is also looking at other renewable sources such as wind and solar.
The question for DTE is what do you do with the waste, a toxic radio active by product of nuclear fission. Currently much of our current nuclear waste is being stored at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The waste is just as dangerous to fall into the wrong hands as the plant itself. Only time will tell whether DTE Energy can provide a safer and longer term solution for nuclear waste.
I would prefer that we try to lessen our independance on oil rather than forging ahead with other technology that can ultimately cause a large scale disaster. I realize that DTE Energy can make bigger profits pushing nuclear energy, but is that really what is good for this country? Most times everyone loses sight of that.
