Nuclear plant bills debated

Those who attended the Senate committee meeting regarding multiple bills dealing with nuclear power overflowed Senate Committee Room 2 and 1, leaving some spectators in the hallway.
Those who attended the Senate committee meeting regarding multiple bills dealing with nuclear power overflowed Senate Committee Room 2 and 1, leaving some spectators in the hallway.

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Tommy Smith

Missouri needs to build another nuclear power plant to secure a low-cost power source for years to come, freshman state Sen. Mike Kehoe told a Senate committee late Wednesday afternoon, at the start of a more than six-hour hearing.

During the public testimony near the end of the hearing, Phillip Todd, Holts Summit, told the committee: "We've got to do something, because the longer we sit, we're just going to fall behind and fall behind."

But a spokesman for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment told the same panel that nuclear power is the most expensive option around.

"The free market gave up on the nuclear market years ago," testified Ed Smith, the group's "No CWIP (Construction Work in Progress) Coordinator."