NTH NEWSMAKER: COLORADO ENERGY PARK ENTREPRENEUR DON BANNER: ‘IT IS TIME FOR NUCLEAR, WIND AND SOLAR’
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011March 2, 2011
Nuclear Townhall
Nuclear Townhall Q&A – Don Banner


Don Banner is a practicing attorney in Pueblo, Colorado and director for the local YMCA – not the kind of background you’d expect for a nuclear energy entrepreneur. Somewhere along the line he got the nuclear bug, however, and has formed “Puebloans for Energizing our Community,” an organization dedicated creating a Colorado Energy Park that will be the home of a nuclear reactor. 

He’s already acquired an option on a 24,000-acre site and has persuaded the Pueblo County Planning Board to send a positive recommendation to the County Commission. He needs a zoning change and is asking the Commission to waive some initial environmental requirements since those will all be duplicated if his application ever gets before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

All this is becoming an increasingly familiar story around the country – ambitious, perhaps quixotic local groups trying to build a nuclear energy reactor in their community. It’s an important development. The traditional lore is that people are afraid of nuclear and the trump question of anti-nuclear activists is always, “Yes, but would you want a nuclear plant next to you?” The answer of these groups is, “Yes.”

Colorado, Idaho and Fresno, California face an uphill challenge in running the gauntlet of competition from low natural gas prices, large capital commitment requirements and a less than certain regulatory paradigm. But this grassroots movement is playing an important role in changing public perceptions as the U.S. nuclear resurgence moves forward. We asked Banner how he got started.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: What initially drew you into this nuclear proposal. Do you have any technological training in the subject?


BANNER: I have a BSEE from Purdue University and worked as an Applications Engineer for Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto before going to law school. (My father was a Purdue EE with a law degree and became Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks for the U.S.). What initially drew me to this proposal was the land itself. It is pretty much useless and is not in ranching or farming. It has two high voltage power lines running through it, two natural gas lines and is surrounded by an irrigation ditch that could provide water. Another gentleman first proposed the concept to me but I thought I could create a format to present it to our local public in a way that might be acceptable.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: What did it take to put together the project? Have you done any financial studies?


BANNER: We have not done any financial studies. My understanding is that it would cost between $5-8 Billion to build a nuclear power plant and more for wind and solar. What I have done is to put the land under my control…all 24,000 acres of it. There’s plenty of land there for solar, wind and nuclear. I like the idea of selling “blended” energy – different sources, all clean. Once I had the land under contract I then had to analyze our local land use laws and figure out what had to be done to allow a Clean Energy Park that would include nuclear. Our county, applying Colorado state law, has a Planned Unit Development procedure that. If done correctly, allows the land to have a “vested property right” that can’t arbitrarily be taken from the land. I am working to get a vested property right to use the land as I have stated in my application. If granted, the land could be used to develop a nuclear power plant if I comply with the Development Plan I submitted as part of the application.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: What was people’s initial reaction to the proposal? Have you had any trouble recruiting members to Puebloans for Energizing our Community?”


BANNER: When the concept first was published in the paper sometime last fall, a number of people contacted me who supported the idea. One has a PhD in Environmental Engineering; one has done wildlife study on a 200,000-acre nuclear power plant, four people had worked in nuclear power plants all their working careers. Others are business people who support clean nuclear energy. The initial reaction from the public was positive. Now that the idea is gaining support, the anti-nuclear folks have come out of the woodwork.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: What are the approvals you need at the local level? What has been the response of the political establishment so far?


BANNER: There are two county approvals needed. One is an amendment to the Regional Development Plan to re-designate the land from “rural ranch” to “energy park.” That has been accomplished and was approved by the Pueblo County Planning Commission Feb.22 after a 6 ½-hour hearing. The second step will be the Pueblo County Commissioners’ approval of the Planned Unit Development proposal. At the Feb. 22 hearing, the Planning Commission recommended to the County Commissioners that they approve my PUD application subject to certain conditions contained in the Pueblo County staff report. I will argue to the County Commissioners that they should approve the PUD without the conditions desired by the staff. For the most part, our political leaders have embraced the idea that a Clean Energy Park that would include a nuclear power plant would benefit the county, the region and the state. The final hearing before the County Commissioners will be on March 15th. No doubt everyone that opposes nuclear power will be out in force. My job is to articulate the value of this proposal and to ask members of the public who support the project to step up and speak in support of the concept.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: Alternate Energy Holding in Idaho says it plans to get all the necessary local approvals and then hand off the project to a major international reactor developer when it comes time to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Is that your strategy as well?


BANNER: Similar but not exactly the same. The way I have structured the company that is doing this, Puebloans For Energizing Our Community, LLC, is such that it is not a profit center unless and until electrical energy is produced from a nuclear power plant on this land. If that happens, I propose that my company be paid from the energy producer a fraction of a cent per kWh. Eighty percent of that revenue stream will be distributed to twelve interest groups I have created that benefit just about every segment of the governmental and non-profit community in Pueblo – groups like the police, fire, schools, health department, economic development groups, youth groups, senior groups, cultural groups and an interest group that will provide grants for individuals and businesses that want to incorporate solar and/or wind on their homes or businesses. I’ll keep 20 percent to manage the interest groups and for my efforts in bringing a Clean Energy Park to Pueblo. Remember, it takes a long time to make such a vision a reality.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: From what you’ve heard, is interesting an international developer or getting through NRC licensing going to be prohibitively difficult?


BANNER: There are no easy steps in bringing a new nuclear power plant into being. But I think attitudes are changing. More people are taking the time to find out what the truth is about nuclear power and debunking the exaggerated claims of the radical environmentalists. At the Feb. 22 hearing I was asked to comment on Chernobyl and I read part of the UN Report from the Chernobyl Forum published in 2005. When the opposition got a chance to speak one of its most forceful speakers basically said that my comments on Chernobyl were false and he told the Planning Commission and me to read the book “The Truth About Chernobyl”. He gave me a note after the meeting with the title of the book, its author and the publication date: 1991. You can bet I am not going to read a book that was published five years after the event when I have an exhaustive study done be 115 scientists from around the world and is current.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: What are the other steps needed to site a reactor in your community?


BANNER: The site has corridors from which to get the power out without having to condemn land to do so. That is a big plus. The site has a modest amount of water that can be used for cooling if properly developed. Couple that with a community that fully supports the concept and it may be enough to encourage a utility or a developer to take on the project. Our community has one of the largest coal fired plants in the state and we are now having constructed a gas fired plant. It is time for nuclear, wind and solar!


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: Has the anti-nuclear crowd gotten wind of your efforts yet? Have you encountered any opposition? How do you expect to handle it?


BANNER: Are you kidding? The Sierra Club sent out an email to its Colorado members about the Feb. 22 meeting. The email included the statement that “we need to decommission every nuclear power plant in the U.S.”. Sierra Club members from the Denver area (110 miles north of Pueblo) and Canon City area (40 miles west of Pueblo) came to object to the project. They claimed: a) nuclear power is dirty power; b) nuclear power is the most costly form of energy; c) nuclear power is the most tax-subsidized form of energy in America; d) people are dying and their health is being compromised because of nuclear power plants and so forth. There were so many stated objections that I responded only to the most erroneous and by that time it was 11:30 PM and we were all exhausted. I have read and studied the subject enough to manage an intelligent response.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: A lot of people in America are gravely concerned that other countries are rushing ahead with nuclear power while we’re being left behind. Does that figure into your calculations in making a case to the public?


BANNER: Yes. China, Russia and other countries see nuclear energy as the best source of energy in the future. I state to the public that our country discovered the initial way to harness nuclear energy and now we have let the rest of the world run with a great idea while we have hidden in our shells afraid of our shadow. I point out that when Edison first illuminated streets with electric lights he ran the power lines in the street, without insulation. Everything was fine until it rained then sparks flew, horses bolted and for a short time there was fear and chaos. A bill was introduced in the legislature to outlaw the production of electricity. Thank God it didn’t pass! I challenge people to study the subject by getting a hold of fact-based books like Gwyneth Cravens “Power to Save the World”. I may not agree with all of the assumptions she makes, but she has thoroughly studied the subject and concluded that we need to embrace nuclear energy.
NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: If you were a betting man, how would you tout the odds of bringing this project to fruition?


BANNER: I think there is a very good chance that the local community will support this project and that the PUD will pass on March 15th. Now I will have to seek out a builder of nuclear power plants who sees the potential of building on this site and can see the growth potential of the region. I think this will be a bigger challenge than that of getting local approval.


NUCLEAR TOWNHALL: Thanks very much for your time and good luck.