Nuclear renaissance underway in VA
In an exuberant editorial, the Lynchburg News & Advance hails the nuclear renaissance that is taking shape across Virginia. Lynchburg is home to the nuclear services company Babcock & Wilcox, who just last week announced its intention to build a new cutting-edge nuclear reactor. The reactor – known as a modular Power Reactor – is smaller, cheaper and easier to build than a typical reactor. This makes it more attractive and affordable for smaller utilities who may have been deterred by the cost associated with building larger reactors. And, the smaller reactor contributes more than larger reactors to American job creation and energy independence, as most of the components can be manufactured right here in America.
Nuclear power is clean and safe, and it’s getting more economical every day as the science advances. When the United States wises up to what the rest of the world already knows, Central Virginia will be reaping many of the benefits.”
The Babcock & Wilcox modular reactor is one of many signs of Virginia’s nuclear renaissance. The National Academy of Sciences is conducting an 18-month study of uranium mining in Virginia that will lead the way to the development of the largest untapped nuclear fuel deposit in the United States, located in Pittsylvania County. The Pittsylvania County deposit could contain enough uranium to fuel Virginia’s current nuclear demand for the next 65 years. Dominion is also proposing to build a third nuclear reactor at its North Anna power station. All good tidings for Virginia’s nuclear renaissance and American energy independence.
