HCR196.DOC

WHEREAS, in January 2008 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the State of Hawaii and the United States Department of Energy, creating the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), which seeks to transform Hawaii's energy portfolio into a predominately renewable energy mix, moving away from Hawaii's over-reliance on imported fossil fuels; and

WHEREAS, the current objective of the HCEI of 70 percent clean energy by the year 2030 is comprised of a 4,365 GWh (30 percent) electricity reduction through energy efficiency and 5,820 GWh (40 percent) electricity generation through renewable energy resources; and

WHEREAS, nuclear power is not considered in the portfolio of options by the HCEI and it may be necessary for the Legislature to make the determination whether nuclear power is truly a viable option as an energy source or whether it is an unnecessary distraction from the overall objectives of the HCEI; and

WHEREAS, to make sound policy decisions, legislators will need to understand the technical, economic, environmental, regulatory, and political issues that must be evaluated and addressed if nuclear power is to be seriously considered in Hawaii's future energy mix; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum prepare an interdisciplinary study of the benefits and risks of nuclear power generation in Hawaii, focusing on, but not limited to, the following critical issues:

(1) Cost: to include, but not be limited to, a discussion on construction costs, operational costs, including the cost of securing a facility, waste disposal, and decommissioning a plant;

(2) Safety: to include, but not be limited to, a discussion of the present-day standard of less than one serious release of radioactivity accident for 50 years from fuel cycle activity, and the extent to which nuclear facilities should be hardened to prevent possible terrorist attacks and its implications for a Hawaii facility and the emissions from a nuclear plant's routine operations;

(3) Fuel Availability and Waste Disposal: a discussion of the benefits and risks of moving Hawaii's reliance from one imported fuel source (petroleum) to another imported fuel source (uranium), the disposal of the spent fuel, recognizing that no country has yet successfully implemented a system for the disposal of this waste, and its repercussions for a Hawaii facility;

(4) Proliferation: an evaluation of state safeguards and assessment of national and international safeguards to ensure that deployment of reprocessing and enrichment are restricted to an acceptable incremental proliferation risk; and

(5) Local Challenges: a specific discussion on challenges that are unique to Hawaii, including our small grid capacity, our limited land areas which are inconsistent with the required evacuation zones for nuclear plants, the issues involved in integrating nuclear power into distributive power systems, and the ramifications of the need to periodically take nuclear plants off-line for servicing;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, State Consumer Advocate, Hawaiian Electric Company, Maui Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company, and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Requesting study of nuclear power

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	196
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII