Alexander says nuclear power is best option

As Omaha Public Power permanently shut down its Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant on Monday, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told nuclear engineers in Memphis that nuclear power is still “the nation’s best source of low-cost, reliable, safe and pollutionfree electricity.”

In a speech to the Tennessee Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy, Alexander said 100 operating reactors in the United States provide 20 percent of the nation’s electricity “which doesn’t turn on or off when the wind blows or the sun shines and is available 90 percent of the time.

“It is cheap, reliable and safe,” Alexander said.

But in Nebraska, utility officials calculated that shutting down the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant will help save Omaha Public Power between $795 million and $994 million over the next 20 years. The plant began coasting down its power generation on Monday and will cease power generation in the next month.