Tom Fudge: Today, State Senator Christine Kehoe, chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Commission will host a hearing in San Diego on nuclear power. The meeting, which takes place at the Caltrans building in Old Town, is described as an information hearing. But the discussion of nuclear power in California is becoming much more serious as global warming becomes more of a threat.
In California, only two nuclear power plants are operating. You may know that one, the San Onofre plant, is on the northern edge of our county. The reluctance to build new plants in the U.S. has lasted for decades. That's because nuclear plants became environmental pariahs after the three-mile island accident and the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl.
In spite of that, 20 percent of the electricity in the U.S. is currently produced by nuclear power. That may seem like a lot, until you consider that 78 percent of the electricity in France is nuclear. With accelerating fears of the effects of global warming, is it time to start increasing our supply of nuclear power?
The nuclear power public hearing takes place today (Monday, December 10th) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Garcia Auditorium of Caltrans District 11, 4050 Taylor Street, Old Town San Diego.
Guest
- Senator Christine Kehoe , Democratic California state senator representing the 39 th District, and chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee.
