Powering Southwest Virginia

by Rikki Hall

Dominion Virginia Power sought permission from the state to build a state-of-the-art coal plant in Wise County, Va. The plant, projected to begin operations in 2012, would feature emissions controls and sequestration, air cooling to limit water use, a modern coal-burning process and the ability to blend biomass and low-quality coal into the fuel. To qualify for state incentives, the plant will burn coal mined in Virginia, where surface-mining techniques like mountaintop removal are employed. The 585-megawatt plant would provide 75 permanent jobs, power 146,000 homes and draw 800,000 gallons of water from the Clinch River daily.

Life imitates the Simpsons

by Rikki Hall

An annual report to Congress revealed that a spill of highly enriched uranium at Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin occurred on March 6, 2006. Several gallons of uranium hexafluoride spilled inside an improperly sealed glovebox and leaked out under a door, drawing the attention of a supervisor. The situation posed a risk of triggering a chain reaction that could have killed workers or released radiation. The incident was kept secret by use of a national-security classification intended to shield the company’s manufacture of fuel for the Navy’s nuclear submarines, but the spill was unrelated to that effort. Instead, the weapons-grade uranium was being diluted for use at TVA’s Browns Ferry reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) changed the terms of the company’s license after the spill and gave the public 20 days to request a hearing on the change, but the notice itself was kept secret. The inappropriate secrecy led Congress and the NRC to review how nuclear information is handled nationwide. Nuclear Fuel Services has also spilled uranium off site in recent years while transporting materials to or from other facilities.

Fire, flowers and butterflies

by Rikki Hall

An entomologist with the Southern Research Station in Athens, Ga. received the first annual Karner Blue Excellence in Pollinator Management award. Dr. James Hanula showed prescribed burns in Appalachian hardwood forests help pollinators, including the rare Diana fritillary, a large butterfly whose caterpillars feed on violets. Both numbers and varieties of beneficial insects increased after fires. Hanula also documented higher pollinator diversity after privet eradication efforts. Privet is an invasive shrub. The award, named for an endangered butterfly, will be presented yearly to an individual affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service.

Tarheels lead the way

by Rikki Hall

North Carolina passed the first renewable energy bill in the Southeast, requiring utilities to generate 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2021, echoing a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly this year calling for 12 percent renewable power by 2022. The requirement will be phased in gradually, with the first milestone coming in 2012, when power generators will need three percent of their portfolio to be renewable. Renewable power sources include wind, solar and biofuels, and up to five percent of the ultimate target can be satisfied by energy-conservation initiatives. To obtain industry support, the legislature added a provision to the bill that allows utilities to pass along costs for new coal-fired plants to consumers before the plants begin operation. The state’s pork industry also had animal wastes, an unproven fuel, included as a biofuel.