Kentucky looking for places to put nuclear plants

A major coal state that is also one of the 11 that effectively ban new nuclear generating plants (those in orange on the map) may drop the ban and is looking for places to put N-plants, with the favored sites in rural areas.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's energy plan would put nuclear power "roughly on par with coal as an electricity source by 2025," writes Jim Bruggers of The Courier-Journal. "Coal supplies more than 90 percent of the state's electricity," and Kentucky ranks third among the states in coal production. A bill to drop the ban has passed the state Senate but faces uncertain prospects in the House.

A consulting firm "looked at 42 potential sites for a variety of forms of power generation, and identified at least three — all in Western Kentucky — that are worth more consideration for a nuclear power plant," Bruggers writes. Those scored at least 79 percent on a suitability scale; the next four were also in Western Kentucky, followed by two reclaimed strip-mine sites in Eastern Kentucky, each with a 68 percent rating. (C-J map)

The study's Alternative Energy Facilities Site Bank also ranked sites for wind, solar, biomass and coal conversion to gas or liquid fuel. "It concluded wind and solar power at the locations would have little chance of being economically worthwhile with current technology," Bruggers reports.