Montana’s nuclear future

Montana has historically played an important part in U.S. energy transitions throughout its one hundred thirty-five-year history.  We have a unique opportunity to continue to play an important part in the current quest for energy independence… but only if we look forward.

Butte, America, became a virtual metropolis overnight because of electrification of the country.  The copper ore in the “richest hill on earth” was critical to the modernization of America and the world.  

The industrial use of electrical energy was vital before the 1900s, but it was still feared and largely unaccepted.  Part of the problem was that by then much of the country had adopted the electric chair as the means of execution.  When people thought of electricity they thought of the electric chair, not the light bulb!

The great titans of that era however, had no doubt that incalculable profits could be made from the use of electricity, but only if they could get people to accept it.  George Westinghouse was selected to be the electrical supplier to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and he used it to change the popular view of electricity.  The glow of the Westinghouse Works Exposition changed the association of electricity from the electric chair to the electrified fair.  And Montana’s copper mines prospered!

Montana’s coal and oil reserves boomed in response to more than one “energy crisis” and our need to establish independence from Middle East oil and OPEC’s political powers.  Once again, Montana profited with extracted wealth.

Renewable energy became a new source of economic development in Montana as modern technologies allowed the capture of wind produced electricity, a source of power the frontier settlers knew well.  And Montana continues to be a producer of hydroelectric power.  This time Montana has profited not from extraction, but from capturing nature’s recurring reserves.

With this rich history of being a critical link in our nation’s energy supply, it only makes sense for Montana to commit to moving forward, at least in an exploratory manner, with the ultimate renewable enegy -- nuclear energy.  The ability to produce nuclear energy safely is now well established, and as new nuclear options become available, Montana could be in the forefront of yet another energy transformation.

Back in the 1970s, when I was just getting out of the Navy, the Soviets threatened to cut off shipments of oil and gas to France.  Realizing their vulnerability, the French immediately decided to “go nuclear.”  The result was that within two decades France was producing more than 80% of its electrical needs from nuclear generation.

The French are glad they made the change.  Their energy is cheap and reliable, and their environment is cleaner and healthier.  In addition, reuse of nuclear waste is rapidly expanding, providing new jobs and economic development to the French economy.

While making the transition to nuclear can be somewhat complicated, many developed and developing countries have already realized that making the conversion to energy sources other than fossil fuels must happen. We know now that nuclear generation has an established record of safety.  The detonation of the “atom bomb” at the end of World War II fixed the idea in the minds of many people that nuclear was synonymous with “the bomb.”  That perception is starting to melt into a distant historical memory.   Today we think more of the promise of nuclear energy as the promise of a future of unlimited fuel, safely captured from the atom itself.

Once again, Montana is well-situated to capitalize on this energy transformation. Here in the Big Sky of Montana, regulators can permit small modular reactors which can quickly and efficiently produce carbon-free electricity.  Some with vested interests in sticking with carbon-based fuel predictably engage in scare-talk against investing in nuclear energy.  As they do, our neighbors in Wyoming will be leaving us in the “coal” dust.  

As I write this, billionaire Bill Gates is working on a state-of-the-art Natrium modular reactor at a retiring coal-fired power plant near Kemerer, Wyoming.   My guess is we should be able to do something similar at the soon-to-be obsolete Colstrip power plant.  Maybe Montana could once again become a leader in yet another energy transformation… but only if we look forward.

Bob Brown is a former Montana secretary of state and state Senate president. He lives in Whitefish.