Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1958)

Why are utilities investing in atomic-electric power? High cost is one of the much-discussed problems of the development of atomic-electric power plants now being planned, built or operated by the independent electric light and power companies. Compelling reasons for their investment in this field are outlined by Raymond Moley in this column from Newsweek. Reprinted with permission from Newsweek The utilities will be operating these [atomic-electric power] plants over the years ahead when it may be possible to recoup the unprofitable outlays that are necessary in these experimental and relatively primitive years. For no one yet knows either the type of reactor which will ultimately be the answer, the best type of fuel, or the metallurgical angles yet to be solved. They face, however, the inexorable prospect of astronomical increases in the demands for electricity in a miraculously growing economy. In terms of a huge unit of measurement called the Energy Unit, the world now uses two-tenths of an EU a year. The total energy used in the world from A.D. 1 to 1860 was six and a half units. From 1860 to 1957, five more were consumed. By A.D. 2000, ten to twenty more units will have been used. But by that time one unit a year will be needed, five times the present consumption. We must take a sharp look now at the energy sources conventionally used, such as coal, oil, gas, and falling water. And we must plan to use some other form of energy-producing resources. The need is emphasized by the estimates of power needs in the United States. Between 1946 and 1956 the private investor-owned companies increased their generation of power 154 per cent. In New England, where population growth is only moderate, power consumption increased 95 per cent. The current growth in that region is shown by the fact that the companies there have scheduled for construction in the next three years an increase of 20 per cent over the present. In the upper Midwest from Ohio to the Dakotas generating capacity is being increased over 11 per cent a year. In the Pacific Northwest, the past ten years have seen a 66 per cent increase. In the mountain region comprising Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona the plant capacities of the investor-owned companies have increased in the past ten years three and three-quarters times and the present rate of increase is 9 per cent a year. In the region comprising Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the second fastest growing region in the nation, the growth of electrical-energy supply has not only kept pace with general economic progress and population growth but has made expansion in other fields possible. The Southeastern region has increased generating capacity by 63 per cent in five years. For the ten-year period from 1946 to 1956 California had an increase of 170 per cent in power supply. Of course, these regions differ greatly in their energy resources. New England is decidedly needy in coal and oil. This adds to the cost of producing power from conventional sources. Utah and the region nearby is indescribably rich. These differentials count in the urgency with which the companies are seeking the solution through atomic power. Thus the progress of nuclear power will be conditioned by costs. Taking a close look at the new source, most [companies] are deep in investing in atomic plants, planning toward the time when that inexhaustible source will be competitive with what they have now. America's Independent Electric Light and Power Companies' ^Company names on request through this magaz/'ne Broadcasting May 12, 1958 • Page 59