Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus ullamcorper nunc at massa. Suspendisse venenatis, nunc ut aliquet bibendum, sem sapien ultrices magna, sit amet imperdiet quam nibh vitae lorem. Morbi ac diam id arcu rhoncus commodo. – Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

HB1 Nuclear Energy
Hawaii to operate nuclear energy facilites

By Junghee Lee/ Heart of Hawaii

House Bill 1, the nuclear energy bill proposes to establish permission to construct and to operate nuclear energy facilities in Hawaii. The State of Hawaii has been dependent on diesel and fossil fuel for electric powered facilities. With nuclear energy taking place of the current fuel, residents would save money and be in a safer environment. However, there are costs that need to be sacrificed in order to achieve this idea.

Nuclear plants are generated at nearly 20 percent of the nation's electricity in the United States and it is recorded that there is no emitting of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide or nitrogetn oxides, according to NEI (Nuclear Energy Institute).

Nuclear energy is produced throug hthe process of turning an ore Uranium to solid ceramic fuel pellets. Once Uranium is turned into solid pellets, it goes through a process called fission. During the process of fission, the Uranium is inserted into a reator, which turns into steam and spins the generator to conduct electricity.

Diesle and fossil fuel cost on an average about one hundred to two hundred percent higher than the national average. Nuclear power has been popular for the past years in Asia, Europe, and the United Staes due to its cheaper cost and safer alternative for fuels. According to the NCI, Nuclear energy costs $1.76 per KWH, whil natural gas costs $6.78 per KWH.

Changing Hawaii's current power plant to a nuclear energy power plant would save the spending of lot of residents for electricity cost. However, the expenses covering the change could cost much more. According to nuclera power critics, they believe that it would cot too much just importing uranium and exporting nuclear waste.

Another concern about the bringing of nuclear power to Hawaii is land. In order to bring a nuclear power plant to Hawaii, a large area of land for facility is needed. Critics believe that Hawaii is not big enough to justify a nuclear reactor nor if it could be built at a reasonable cost.

Life and Land, the environmental group, believe that it is a waste of time to build a nuclear plant because all the renewable energy resources are available on the island.

The Chairwoman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, Hermina Morita, D-Hanalei Kapaa said that nuclear energy might not be a good option for Hawaii because it makes Hawaii vulnerable to outside global forces that Hawaii doesn't have control over like the prices.

The bill was scheduled for heraing by EEP and WLO on Thursday January 29, 2009 in a House conference. By the end of the hearing, the committees of EEP and WLO concluded that the measure would be held. HB1 was sponsored by Representative Mark Takai and Representative Scott Nishimura.