Columbia Looks Into Nuclear Energy

From the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune:

Columbia Water & Light officials are considering doubling the size of the coal-burning Municipal Power Plant on Business Loop 70.

As an alternative, Mayor Darwin Hindman said he’d be interested in looking into buying a portion of a new nuclear power plant outside the Columbia area . . .

Hindman said he favors looking into building a new coal plant but also wants the nuclear option investigated. While a nuclear plant would probably never be built in Columbia, he said, the city’s utility could buy a percentage of one built elsewhere.

"I do think that in a volatile market where we subject ourselves to market prices of buying electricity during peak times, we need to hedge that in some way," Hindman said. "Building a power plant is one way to do that."

"One thing we should never overlook is the use of nuclear power," he said. "It doesn’t pollute the air."