Posted at: 03/01/2011 11:25 PM
Updated at: 03/02/2011 11:54 AM
By: Dan Bazile

Easton moving forward with plans for nuclear power

The Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant, near Spring City, Tennessee.

EASTON - Late last night, the Easton Town Board voted to appoint a committee to look into the feasibility of locating a nuclear reactor on land near the Hudson River.

The original idea came up about a month ago after Rep. Chris Gibson brought it up.

They are in the beginning stages. But it's already getting a lot of attention from both sides.

A small crowd filled the seats inside Town Hall in Easton, eager to find out how the town board felt about the prospects of nuclear energy. One woman stood up and said she was not comfortable with it at all. She said she remembers when the town tried to bring in a nuclear power plant more than 40 years ago. The project was under construction and got as far as a hole in the ground for the reactor.

"I'm very much for it. We should have had one 40 years ago when activists got the plant stopped," Town Supervisor John Rymph said.

Rymph is supporting a resolution to back Gibson in a quest for alternative energy.

Gibson has been a strong advocate of nuclear power. He recently said that building one in New York’s 20th Congressional District would bring economic prosperity within a decade.

"It's safe. It's abundant and it's clean. One plan, 300,000 homes. We can get access to energy and as we know, when you increase access to the supply of energy, generally speaking it drives down the cost," Gibson said.

But safety questions still remain in the minds of residents in the Washington County agricultural community. Some worry about possible radiation and contamination to more than 30 farms if something went wrong. Others are concerned their property value could go down.

"I think nuclear energy is the way to go. We have to have some way to be energy efficient," Rymph said.