Nuclear power proposed near Boone

Sep. 18--If it becomes reality, the 21,000-acre Colorado Energy Park will be the biggest, most different energy producing complex in the country.

Backers of the $83 million park want to turn the large BX Ranch into an industrial park of clean and renewable sources of power, and perhaps attract other companies that want to be near power sources.

Thorne Davis, a real estate broker who helped engineer the Walking Stick development near Colorado State University-Pueblo, said he's joined with the ranch's owner to start negotiations with Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. of Texas on the project.

Alternate Energy will look at the land and determine if it can win a permit for nuclear power.

Nuclear is just part of what will make the park a winning project, Davis said. The land is also perfectly situated to produce several kinds of renewable energy, and has the water and other infrastructure to make it happen. "We can create energy sources here in the Arkansas Valley," Davis said. The project will increase the tax base, boost enrollment and financing for renewable energy studies at the university and Pueblo Community College and provide well-paying jobs in an industry with a future.



Davis said he envisions the park having a nuclear power plant with as many as four reactors. The reactors will use a waterless "dry" design to avoid the large cooling towers and water used of older reactors.

Part of the reactors' heat will be used to cook any number of biomass commodities to make ethanol, Davis said. The commodities could be anything from switchgrass to municipal waste to cow manure.

Additionally, the bright sunshine in the area makes it perfect for a solar energy farm, Davis said, and wind turbines may also be feasible.

The land is situated on top of one of the larger natural-gas pipelines in the region, so a natural gas-fired power plant is also a possibility, he said, as is a small hydroelectric dam. Water for the project would come from the Weldon Ditch and perhaps the Huerfano/Cuchara Irrigation Co. Davis said water storage space is available both on the site and at the Cuchara Reservoir, which will have to be rebuilt.

The water is part of what makes the ranch a perfect location, Davis said. The Weldon Ditch's owners approached him to help sell their water rights in the Huerfano River. When they couldn't interest any cities, the group decided a power park would be even better.

The ranch has plenty of solitude because no one lives on it or even very close, Davis said. The natural gas pipeline passes underneath, the solar-power rating is high, there is wind power and plenty of water and water storage.

Additionally, there are two large electrical power transmission lines passing through the property and the BNSF railroad is only seven miles away.

Farmers who use the nearby water, and even other farmers in the Arkansas Valley, may profit by growing low-labor crops for the ethanol plant, Davis said.

This obviously is the right time to be pursuing alternate forms of power, Davis said.

"We're closing down (coal-fired) power plants and not building new ones," Davis said. "And within five years, we're going to start having rolling blackouts. Demand is growing and supply isn't."

But the project creates huge economies of scale for the power-producing aspects and other companies that want to participate, Davis said. A solar-panel manufacturer or an aluminum producer may want to locate in the park because of the available power.

Davis said he knows some people will oppose the project, especially the nuclear aspect of it.

"I'm sure there's a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard)" Davis said. "There's always a NIMBY somewhere."

But today's nuclear power is better and safer than what was being used in the 1970s, when a leak at Three Mile Island made nuclear power the butt of jokes about glowing in the dark. Even then nuclear power was very safe, as shown by the fact that no one was injured at Three Mile Island, he said.

In fact, Davis said nuclear power is far safer and healthier than coal-produced power.

When you consider the emission of mercury, sulphur and other chemicals, as well as the environmental impact from the smoke and carbon emissions of burning coal, nuclear is by far the better choice, he said.

One study has shown that it's "100 percent more hazardous to health and the environment to live near a coal-fired plant than a nuclear plant," Davis said.

Clearly there are many hurdles to jump before the project becomes a reality, he said.

But "there could be several billion dollars worth of energy infrastructure," at the park, Davis said. "And it would be clean and green."

PASURUAN TRAGEDY NEGATES GOVT CLAIM OF REDUCED POVERTY?

The Pasuruan tragedy in East Java in which 21 people were trampled to death on Monday in a rush to receive tithes has prompted the opposition party to criticize the government's poverty reduction program.

Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives abruptly picked up its gun and used the incident as a 'bullet' to open fire at the president.

"This is a real condition that indicates increasing poverty in our society. It contradicts the president's statement in his state-of-the nation address last August that the poverty rate this year is the lowest so far," Hasto Kristanto, PDIP faction member, told a House plenary session on Tuesday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his state-of-the-nation speech at a House of Representatives (DPR)' plenary session last August 15, 2008 had stated the poverty rate in 2008 was the lowest in the past 10 years.


The poverty rate had declined from 17.7 percent in 2006 to 15.4 percent in March 2008. The open unemployment rate in 2006 was recorded at 10.5 percent. It dropped to 8.5 percent in February 2008, according to the president.

Yet, the Pasuran tragedy, Hasto Kristanto said, itself negated the president's claim of reduced poverty rate in the country.

Twenty-one women were killed and dozens of others injured in a stampede in the remote East Java district of Pasuruan on Monday as crowds rushed to receive a cash tithe of Rp20,000 from philanthropist Syaichon.

Kristianto noted that the number of people who died so far after they were trampled on in a stampede had reached 24 in the past two years, breaking down the number into 21 deaths at Pasuruan and three others in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta during a tithe distribution last year.

According to Police General Sutanto, such an incident had taken place four times since 2003. In 2003, four persons died under other peole's feet in a rush to receive handouts in Pejaten, also in South Jakarta.

"In contradiction to the claimed decrease in poverty, we see factual indicators of increasing poverty, an increase of 11.3 percent in food prices and of 8.8 percent in the cost of education. So, we are convinced that the president's claim in his August 16, 2008 address has been denied by realities," Kritianto said.

The office of the International Labor Organization (ILO) released a report recently that one in two workers in Indonesia was paid US$2 a day, indicating that poverty is still a major problem for Indonesian workers. But the ILO also pointed out that Indonesia's economy within 2000 and 2007 showed healthy indicators.

Therefore, Kristanto suggested that the government reexamine its data on the country's poverty rate, instead of unilaterally claiming reduced poverty to complement its eforts to 'charm' the people.

Kristanto's data might just be valid. But the objectivity of his argument on the death of 21 people in the tragedy is also questionable if he takes it as a means of measuring the extent of poverty in Indonesia, which has a population of about 228 million. After all, he is a politician of an opposition party.

The Indonesian government doesn't see any correlation between the Pasuruan tragedy with the country's poverty rate. According to Minister/State Secretary Hatta Radjasa, the tragedy has not in any way negated or disproved the government's recent pronouncement that the poverty rate was dropping.

"It (the tragedy) doesn't show anything. Our poverty rate is declining. The tragedy doesn't negate our data. Therefore, it should not be linked to the number of the country's poor," he said.

It could be true that Indonesia is today in much better economic conditions than in previous years. However, it needs to restructure its economic policies to boost the real sector and solve its poverty and unemployment problems.

Rachmat Gobel of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said the Indonesian economy was currently in much better shape than 10 years ago when the country was hit by a monetary crisis in 1998.

"According to latest studies by the World Bank in 2008, the commodity price hikes had a positive impact on Indonesia, and on the other hand, it negatively affected China, Thailand, the Philippines, Lao and Cambodia which suffered great losses," Gobel said recently.

That's why Indonesia was lucky that it was rich in natural resources and had a vast domestic market so it was not so badly affected by the world's oil and food price hikes compared to other developing countries.

Yet, poverty and unemployment still remain a problem. Therefore, the government has set a poverty reduction target of 12-14 percent in 2009 because the poverty rate had in reality already reached 15.4 percent by March 2008.

Latif Adam, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said however, that the unemployment rate in Indonesia now stood at 8.5 percent. It was expected to grow by 0.5 percent to 9 percent in 2009 while the government's target was 7-8 percent.

The government will therefore continue to make efforts to lower the poverty rate. "The poverty graph or trend in Indonesia has steadily decreased. The poverty rate in 2008, both in percentage and absolute numbers, is the lowest in the last 10 years," said presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng.

UN rejects Taiwan participation

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry says the United Nations has rejected the island's proposal to participate in the world body.

Thursday's statement says Taiwan's bid to join U.N. groups like the World Health Organization was spiked after China voiced its disapproval in the General Assembly.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and opposes anything that would give the island trappings of sovereignty. That includes participation in major international organizations.

Beijing has effectively blocked past Taiwanese bids to become an U.N. member. Despite the decision of the new Taiwanese government to opt this year for the more modest goal of participation in U.N. agencies, China's objections have remained in place.

Krakatau Steel, Garuda, BTN cleared to go public

Lawmakers have approved an initial public offering (IPO) for steelmaker PT Kratakau Steel, flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia and PT Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) in a privatization drive.

The privatization of the three companies could generate close to Rp 10 trillion (US$1.06 billion) in proceeds.

The sales could take place as early as the end of this year, State Minister for State Enterprises Sofjan Djalil said Thursday after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission XI overseeing financial affairs.

"The market conditions should be good (for the IPO) to give an optimum result. We will not just let go (of the shares)," he said after the hearing which was also attended by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

The hearing authorized the government to let go a 30 percent stake in Krakatau Steel, the country's largest steelmaker, worth Rp 3.22 trillion ($342.55 million), as early as in the fourth quarter of the year.


The money will be used as part of a total of Rp 16.41 trillion earmarked for its business expansion over the next two or three years to boost production capacity.

With the planned IPO and expansion plan, the company is eyeing to increase revenue to Rp 33.6 trillion in 2012 from an estimated Rp 24.6 trillion this year, and a rise in profit to Rp 3.1 trillion from Rp 1.5 trillion.

For BTN, the hearing mandated the sales of a 30 percent stake to the stock market, possibly in early 2009.

Garuda plans sell a 30 percent of its shares worth Rp 4.2 trillion in 2009. Rp 2.5 trillion will be used to pay the company's debts and Rp 1.7 trillion to add the number of planes.

Commission XI said Garuda could issue a maximum 40 percent of shares.