Congressman says new nuclear plants unlikely

While many improvements are being made in the way nuclear plants are being run, Iowa Congressman Tom Latham says he doubts -any- new nuclear power plants will be built in Iowa.MidAmerican Energy announced Tuesday it will build two new electrical generating stations in Iowa. One plant will be built near Des Moines which will be natural gas-fired, while the second plant, which has yet to be located, will be coal-powered. Latham says utilities would -like- to build nuclear plants in Iowa and elsewhere, but there’s too much regulation.Latham toured nuclear power facilities in France over the Independence Day break. The U-S gets about 20-percent of its electricity from nuclear power while France uses nukes for about 80-percent. A nuclear power generating station hasn’t been built in the U-S in 25 years.The Alexander republican is a member of the House Energy and Water Subcommittee on Appropriations. Iowa has one nuclear plant operated by Alliant Energy in Palo, near Cedar Rapids.