Newport assemblyman advocates nuclear power

A plan to allow new nuclear plants in California was quashed by state legislators in April, so Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore wants to take it to a vote of the people.

DeVore filed paperwork with the state Tuesday for a ballot initiative that would remove California's three-decade ban on building new nuclear power plants.

It is his second try at the issue. He went through the legislature earlier this year with a similar proposal, but an Assembly committee killed the bill. Some activist groups already have said they'll oppose it.

To DeVore, nuclear power is a necessity to meet the state's energy needs and also its ambitious environmental goals. In 2006, Gov. Schwarzenegger pledged to cut the state's carbon emissions by 25% by 2020.

While nuclear safety arguments will inevitably be made, nuclear plants are better designed and safer than ever before, DeVore said.

"We need to move beyond fear and we need to move into fact, and the fact is that we will not have the energy to power the California grid and meet the very aggressive carbon dioxide reduction targets," he said. "We cannot do both without nuclear power being part of the equation."

So why an initiative?

"It's because the majority up here, the Democrats who control Sacramento, are completely closed-minded about nuclear power," DeVore said Wednesday. "There's no way I can get a fair hearing on this very important issue for Californians."

DeVore may have support from the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group, which views a nuclear plant as a way to pump up Fresno's economy while reducing the state's dependence on outside sources of energy.

'We're sending money for oil to countries that hate us and they're financing terrorism," Fresno Nuclear Energy Group resident John Hutson said. "We need to become energy independent."

But they'll face a vigorous fight from groups who say the state's current nuclear ban makes sense — no new plants until a permanent disposal site for nuclear waste is found.

So far no one has a solution for getting rid of nuclear waste, other than storing it at the plant where it was made, said Rochelle Becker, executive director for the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, a California group.

"We've been surprised with such things as tsunamis that wipe out coastal villages … and in California we have earthquakes," she said. "We've had these shipping incidents with oil — do you really want shipping incidents with nuclear waste?"

Becker added funding for new energy sources is slim, so it shouldn't be wasted on nuclear power.

Dan Hirsch, of Los Angeles-based nuclear opponent the Committee to Bridge the Gap, couldn't agree with Becker more. Nuclear plants are vulnerable to terrorist attack, they're always over budget, and California has other, safer energy sources available, such as solar power, Hirsh said.

"The cheapest way of reducing global warming gases is efficiency," he said. "Right-wing nuclear surrogates like DeVore fight those measures."

DeVore is still seeking donors to pay for his ballot drive. He needs to gather 500,000 signatures by Nov. 13 to qualify for the June 2008 ballot.