Proposed nuclear plant faces many obstacles
Channel 7 News
April 26, 2007
BOISE — NewsChannel 7 has learned a proposed nuclear power plant near Mountain Home is off the map for many officials in charge of licensing.
Alternate Energy Holdings, a Virginia-based business, wants to build a 1600-megawatt nuclear power plant that could provide all the energy for the state and then some.
But a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says they’ve never heard of the company.
“The only thing that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has heard, with regards to Alternate Energy Holdings, is what we have seen in the media,” said Scott Burnell, NRC.
“So our first step is county permission approval and if we get that, hopefully this summer, then that will start the next large process, which is the nuclear regulatory approval,” said Don Gillispie, Alternate Energy Holdings.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the company is getting the cart before the horse.
Alternate Energy Holdings also needs approval from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Idaho Department of Water Resources. Neither government agency has been contacted.
Also, Owyhee County officials say they have not yet received an application for a building permit.