San Antonio Public utility approves Nukes, Uses police to keep community out

San Antonio Public utility approves Nukes, Uses police to keep community out
November 7th, 2007

by Southwest Workers Union (resposted) Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 at 12:28 PM
swu@igc.org

CPS Energy, San Antonio’s municipal energy utility held a meeting on monday aproving the use of 206 million ratepayer dollars to expand the South Texas Nuclear Project in Bay City Texas.

Despite overwhelming opposition, the CPS Board voted unanimously last night to invest $206 million of ratepayer money into initial design work on two nuclear reactors, the first in the U.S. in nearly 29 years. Twenty two residents, including representatives of eight community organizations and former City Councilmember Patti Radle, gave testimony over the environmental, safety, and financial risks the reactors pose and the existance of viable alternatives that combine energy efficiency measures with renewable power generation.

Community members from Kleberg and Goliad County, including the Goliad County Commissioner, travelled several hours to the meeting from South Texas to bear witness to the devastating impacts of uraniumm mining on their drinking water, health, and economic livelihood.

After agreeing to give residents 3 minutes each to voice their opinions on the project, CPS shut the community out of the meeting, saying there were no chairs left. Only after 30 minutes of chanting and banging on the door, being pushed by security and intimidated by the SA Police Department, were ratepayers of this publicly-owned utility allowed to attend the public meeting.

Reactors 3 & 4 at the South Texas Project will be paid for through rate increases to San Antonio residents and are expected to cost over $6.6 billion (according to CPS) and up to $16.2 billion (estimate based on Wall Street investor’s journal Moody’s Corporate Finance). A CPS-commissioned study concluded that CPS could save more energy through conservation than it will gain from the proposed nuclear reactors.

See video of the meeting
Read the Express-News Article