Nuclear power plant pushed: The chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission says such energy sources are needed

"Absolutely, I think we should take a look at it," Jeff Cloud, chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, said. "I think we would be doing a favor to the future generation of Oklahomans. It's reliable and somewhat affordable."

Cloud, a Republican, was the featured speaker at the Page One luncheon hosted by the Tulsa Press Club.

Nuclear plants operate in Arkansas, Missouri and Texas, and many of the people who live near nuclear plants believe the United States should build more of them, despite the potential health effects of radiation, Cloud said.

"Eighty percent of them are in favor of having nuclear plants," he said.

No new nuclear plants have been built in the United States in about 30 years.

But nuclear energy is gaining support amid higher natural gas prices, increasing demand for electricity and growing concerns about carbon dioxide emissions.

Nuclear plants are more efficient than conventional power plants, and they don't pollute the air.

"If you want no greenhouse gases and you want a lot of baseload production at stable, cost-effective prices, there really is no other alternative," said John Richardson, CEO of Tulsa-based Enercon Services Inc., which is preparing applications for new nuclear plants in Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina.

In addition, nuclear power could help energize the Oklahoma economy, Richardson said.

"If you want to bring jobs into the state, one of the things you need is a cheap supply of energy," he said.

Cloud said Oklahoma should develop an energy policy and that nuclear power should be a key element of that plan.

"I think that's where we're headed," he said. "It's a huge investment, but I think it's one that would be wise for us to do."

Stuart Solomon, president of AEP-PSO, said other companies are pursuing the development of nuclear power in the United States and that their progress is being monitored by American Electric Power- Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

"We're very interested in the development of nuclear power," Solomon said in an interview. "We're watching it very closely."

In 1973, PSO announced plans to build a nuclear plant known as Black Fox, near Inola. But the project was delayed for years by numerous legal challenges and ultimately abandoned following the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania.

About 20 percent of U.S. electricity comes from nuclear energy. There are 104 commercial nuclear plants in operation nationwide, though none in Oklahoma.

Earlier this year, Enercon landed a multimillion-dollar contract with NuStart Energy, a consortium of power companies created to build new nuclear plants in the United States.

The group comprises some of the largest operators of nuclear plants, including Entergy, Excelon, Progress Energy, Florida Power and Light, and TVA.