NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, June 11, 2022
Speakers: Nuclear power a ‘perfect’ fi t for nation’s needs
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
PASCO — Nuclear energy fi ts
the bill “perfectly” for the nation’s
future energy needs, speakers told
lawmakers and agricultural stake-
holders.
“If we make the right choices
today, 30 years from now, we’ll
have just one question: Why didn’t
we do it sooner?” said Maria Kors-
nick, president and CEO of the
Nuclear Energy Institute in Wash-
ington, D.C.
Pacific Northwest consumers
would save money by including
nuclear energy in the mix of elec-
tricity generation, Korsnick said,
citing a study from Energy North-
west, a public power agency based
in Richland, Washington.
Energy Northwest CEO Bob
Schuetz said the region’s hydroelec-
tric system is unlikely to expand. He
pointed to “never-ending” attempts
to breach dams and the challenges
of maintaining reliability in the face
of increasing electrical demand.
“We can have a decarbonized
electrical system, we can support
the load growth necessary ... and we
can do it without compromising a
reliable and resilient electric grid,”
Schuetz said. “But we can’t wait
until the last minute to create the
infrastructure necessary to do this.”
Schuetz pointed to enthusiasm
across the country to “overbuild”
renewable energy resources, such
as wind and solar. Limitations
include intermittent power, rela-
tively short lifetimes and the large
amount of land required.
Timothy J. Park/Energy Northwest
The Columbia Generating Station, operated by Energy Northwest near Richland, Washington, produces 1,207
megawatts of power and is the third largest electricity generator in Washington state behind the Grand Coulee
and Chief Joseph dams. Nuclear power plants produce electricity without releasing any carbon dioxide or other
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, proponents say.
“If your actual goal is 100%
carbon-free, you simply cannot do it
on renewables, no matter how much
you’re willing to invest,” Schuetz
said.
The speakers addressed lawmak-
ers June 2 in Pasco as part of the
Congressional Western Caucus
at the Pacifi c Northwest National
Laboratory.
Thirty years from now, Korsnick
predicted, there will be hundreds of
new nuclear reactors — from large
models to handle gigawatt sizes, to
small modular reactors, to micro
reactors.
Current reactors also must
remain online as long as possi-
ble, Korsnick said, calling them
“carbon-f ree powerhouses,”
producing 20% of the electric
supply in the U.S., and more than
Forecast for Pendleton Area
| Go to AccuWeather.com
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Occasional
morning rain
A couple of
showers
Strong winds
subsiding
Winds subsiding;
an a.m. shower
Sunny, pleasant
and warmer
75° 56°
68° 46°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
61° 46°
75° 56°
65° 47°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
80° 58°
73° 49°
70° 51°
78° 56°
73° 48°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
64/52
65/49
77/48
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
72/56
Lewiston
70/53
83/59
Astoria
63/52
Pullman
Yakima 78/51
69/50
71/56
Portland
Hermiston
72/56
The Dalles 80/58
Salem
Corvallis
69/52
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
69/52
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
70/54
73/50
71/52
Ontario
83/59
Caldwell
Burns
74°
63°
80°
52°
100° (1934) 38° (1938)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
71/52
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
77/59
0.23"
0.60"
0.29"
6.39"
2.23"
4.67"
WINDS (in mph)
85/60
76/48
0.29"
1.43"
0.50"
10.09"
4.02"
7.34"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 67/46
72/53
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
75/56
76/57
73°
61°
77°
51°
104° (1910) 31° (1897)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
69/50
Aberdeen
68/51
75/52
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
69/52
Today
Sun.
SW 8-16
SW 8-16
WSW 8-16
WNW 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
76/49
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
5:06 a.m.
8:44 p.m.
5:42 p.m.
3:05 a.m.
Last
New
50% of the carbon-free electricity.
The new reactors would serve
remote areas, operating 10 to 15
years without needing refueling,
Korsnick said.
“That’s really attractive if you’re
in the middle of nowhere, and we
have a lot of middle of nowheres,
like in Alaska and places in
Canada,” she said.
More than 60 diff erent nuclear
technologies are in development,
with several to be constructed
before 2030, she said.
In Wyoming, a next-generation
reactor will be built on the site of a
retired coal plant.
“We can repurpose the talent
in these coal sites and gas plants,
when those plants are ready to shut
down,” Korsnick said. “In nuclear
power, we just boil water a little
bit diff erently — once we turn that
water into steam, the rest of the
plant looks very much like a coal or
gas plant does today.”
Some reactors will produce
steam, which also can be used in the
manufacturing sector, or to produce
hydrogen, or have the option to
switch between steam and hydro-
gen production.
Chief nuclear offi cers at member
utilities told the institute they’ll
need 90 gigawatts of new nuclear
power, which would double the
amount of energy available from
nuclear today, Korsnick said. That
will require 300 small modular
reactors and make nuclear the larg-
est source of power.
The Infrastructure Bill included
investments of $8.5 billion in
nuclear power, Korsnick said.
There also is wide support on the
state level.
“If fi ve years ago, I would have
told you we had 10 bills going
through state legislatures that
had anything to do with nuclear,
it would have been a big deal,”
Korsnick said. “Today, there
are more than 100 bills support-
ing nuclear working their way
through state legislatures.”
Recount planned in Baker County
Board of Commissioner race
with just two candidates.
In preliminary results from
the county clerk’s offi ce on
BAKER COUNTY — May 17, the day of the primary
The race for a position on the election, Justus had a three-
Baker County Board
vote lead, 2,485 votes
of Commissioners
to Witham’s 2,482.
remains so close that
The reason Justus
County Clerk Stefanie
doesn’t have at least
Kirby is preparing to
50% of the votes, even
do a hand recount
with his slim lead, is
there were about 50
of more than 5,000
ballots.
write-in votes, which
But regardless of
Justus
constitutes about 1%
the outcome, the two
of the total votes cast.
candidates — Chris-
That means Justus
tina Witham and
and Witham are divid-
ing 99% of the votes,
Kody Justus — will
and with such a close
both advance to a
race, neither has quite
runoff in the Nov. 8
general election.
reached that 50% plus
one threshold needed
They are vying for
to avoid a runoff in
Position 2, one of two
Witham
November.
part-time spots on the
three-member board
The preliminary
of commissioners.
totals in the commissioner
According to Oregon elec- race didn’t include ballots
tion law, if no candidate in a that were postmarked on
contested race gets more than May 17 but hadn’t arrived at
50% of the votes cast, then the the Clerk’s offi ce that day.
top two advance to the general
Kirby said her office
election. That standard also received 61 postmarked votes
applies in races, like this one, within seven calendar days
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
after the election, which made
them eligible. This was the
fi rst Oregon election in which
those postmarked ballots are
counted if they’re received
within seven days.
Kirby said there also were
15 other ballots counted. In
some cases the voter had
left the ballot in a drop box
in a diff erent county, which
is allowed, and others either
lacked a signature or the signa-
ture didn’t match the one the
clerk’s offi ce had on record for
that voters.
Those are known as “chal-
lenged” ballots, and voters had
until June 7 to confi rm that
they fi lled out those ballots.
After tallying the 76
ballots, the Witham-Jus-
tus race was even closer, but
Witham, who previously
trailed by three votes, had a
lead of two votes, 2,518 to
Justus’ 2,516, Kirby said.
But as was the case on
May 17, neither Witham nor
Justus has more than 50% of
the total votes cast, so both
will advance to the Nov. 8
general election, Kirby said.
First
NATIONAL EXTREMES
IN BRIEF
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 113° in Needles, Calif. Low 30° in Angel Fire, N.M.
June 14
June 20
June 28
July 6
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Body of missing
Long Creek man found
LONG CREEK — Search crews found the
body of a Long Creek man Wednesday, June 8, in
a remote area east of Belshaw Meadows.
A June 9 press release from the Grant County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce noted Marvin C. Crist, 74, was
last seen on May 30 checking out of a motel in
La Grande.
Ground search members located Crist’s body
near his vehicle. It appeared Crist became stuck
after he backed off the road on May 30 or 31, Sher-
iff Todd McKinley said.
McKinley said no foul play is suspected and
Crist’s family had been notifi ed.
McKinley thanked the volunteers and person-
nel that helped locate Crist. Their eff orts, McKin-
ley notes, helped bring resolution to Crist’s family.
— EO Media Group
Contributed Photo
Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley said in
a Thursday, June 9, 2022, press release that
ground search crew members found the
body of a Long Creek man on June 8 near this
vehicle east of Belshaw Meadows.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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showers t-storms
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rain
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flurries
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cold front
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