Background: The South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce promotes and supports the advancement of the economic growth of Hispanic businesses in South Carolina, providing leadership and serving as a bridge between community leaders, different cultures, and the community at large. Evelyn Lugo is the President of the South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and represents the organization’s membership with the CASEnergy Coalition. Ms. Lugo is originally from Puerto Rico, and also serves as the Hispanic/Latino Outreach Coordinator for the American Cancer Society.

CASEnergy Involvement: “The South Carolina Hispanic Chamber recognizes the significant positive impact nuclear energy can have on South Carolina’s economy.” Member since March 2011

Impact of nuclear in your community: “South Carolina is home to five nuclear energy facilities, which provide us with the electricity we need to power our homes and places of business.”

Impact of nuclear on your organization: “The South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce believes that competition and innovation in the marketplace are vital to the success of the economy.  Competition and innovation in the energy industry is no different.   By pursuing new technologies, including new nuclear technologies, we help meet rising energy demands and stimulate our local, state, and national economies, allowing us to be more competitive in an increasingly globalized marketplace.”

Most important benefit of nuclear: “Nuclear energy is a sustainable and safe source of electricity and contributes to the growth of the communities and the economy of South Carolina.”

Most interesting nuclear fact: “The nuclear energy industry takes meticulous care of the nation’s facilities and is constantly improving its practices to make these safe facilities even safer.”

A lesson for your community: “It is important that the people in the community understand that nuclear energy is safe.  Nuclear energy facilities are designed to protect the American public, and are subject to oversight by a strong, independent regulator, known as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).”

If you are a member and interested in sharing your perspective on why nuclear energy matters to you, please let us know!

To read the full Web story, click here.

Photo courtesy of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group

Among the highlights were the turbine room (pictured above, in front of the Westinghouse designed turbine) and the main control room which we viewed from above.

Our group of 17 included representatives from the American Association of Blacks in Energy, the Greater Washington andNational Urban Leagues, the National Association of Neighborhoods and Lincoln University, and we would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to the folks at Calvert Cliffs and Constellation Energy Nuclear Group for making this possible.

Interested in a video tour of a nuclear facility?  Check out our blog post from March 2011 with a link to the NBC TODAY’s tour of Entergy’s Waterford 3 Nuclear Power plant in Killona, La. Please visit our website for more photos from the tour.

Bottom line, nuclear energy is fundamental to our nation’s domestic energy security and will be the driver of American job creation. Emission-free sources like nuclear power already supply 20 percent of our country’s safe, reliable and affordableelectricity. And with our nation’s electricity needs forecast to grow 24 percent by 2035, nuclear must be part of the energy mix to meet our country’s growth without polluting the air.

A memorable part of my trip was meeting with the bright-eyed, intelligent students pursuing careers in environmental science and nuclear energy at the College of Southern Maryland and American University. The U.S. nuclear energy industry is more than a sensible career path for young individuals as it provides tens of thousands of high-paying, permanent, clean energy jobs which cannot be outsourced. Nuclear energy is a domestically produced, sustainable source in the United States and facilities can operate up to 60 years, which is essentially a lifetime guarantee for employment.

I’ve based my career around the protection of the environment, and nuclear energy does a great deal to further that goal. It’s refreshing to see young individuals pursue similar dreams that will not only enrich their personal lives but also benefit our nation as a whole.

Please visit our YouTube page for more coverage from my trip.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gov. Whitman writes:

 Today, a total of 104 nuclear reactors are operational around the country. They provide about 20 percent of the country’s total electricity. No other electricity source can combine the benefits of knowing that it will always be on with its affordability and its lack of emissions.

 The operational price, excluding the costs of building the power plant, is about 2 cents per kilowatt hour — a third less than coal and half of the price of gas.

This cheap, always available, zero-carbon power is an important backstop to the growth of new technologies. It can help smooth the price fluctuations that natural gas is vulnerable to and it provides the “always on” capacity that renewable power cannot.

Interested in Gov. Whitman’s thoughts on nuclear energy? Check out this blog post she recently wrote for Clean Energy Buzz. Also, stay tuned to our blog andTwitter handle for some upcoming media interviews with Gov. Whitman.

Gov. Whitman writes:

“While the industry is working to build upon the safety measures already in place, there are others taking a less productive approach, using this crisis to press for a ban on all future nuclear energy investments and a shutdown of current U.S. nuclear power plants, despite the continued support by the current administration and many policymakers.

Too often emotional appeals don’t consider the facts. Nuclear energy facilities in 31 states supply low-carbon electricity to one of every five U.S. homes and businesses.  Clean, safe, nuclear will always be a part of our country’s energy portfolio.  It would take decades- and tens of billions of dollars- to replace that capacity.  This is the new post-Fukushima energy reality.

With America’s energy needs forecasted to grow 24% by 2035, the U.S. can’t afford to lose base-load power and will need new sources of energy.”

To read the full piece in Spanish, click here or read the English translation here.

Are you interested in activating your voice in support of clean, safe, reliable nuclear energy? Whether it be penning a letter to the editor, speaking at a relevant energy conference or participating in a guest blog post, let us know atMembership@CASEnergy.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

“The reality is that while a loss-of-power incident can occur at our nuclear plants, the disastrous circumstances that led to the Fukushima events are much less likely. We are better prepared because of the Fukushima incident, which caused our Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to undertake a review of all our reactors to ensure that Fukushima could not happen here. We are not susceptible to an earthquake or tsunami of the enormous magnitude that occurred in Japan, which meant that the emergency generators were swamped by waves that exceeded the height of the reactor building, and that roads were impassable to bring in other generators or fuel for them.

Through all our hurricanes in Florida, we have never seen a similar situation. Regardless, the utilities and the NRC are looking closely at what can be done to beef up defenses at our nuclear plants. The odds are infinitesimal that we can experience a Fukushima type accident. If you remember, the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station was hit directly by Hurricane Andrew and survived in fine fashion.”

To read the full piece, click here. Are you interested in activating your voice in support of clean, safe, reliable nuclear energy? Whether it be penning a letter to the editor, speaking at a relevant energy conference or participating in a guest blog post, let us know at Membership@CASEnergy.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

Before speaking at an event hosted by the Harvard Club of the Palm Beaches on Monday night, Dr. Moore met with the Palm Beach Business Development Board and Economic Council to discuss the many economic and jobs benefits of nuclear energy in Florida.  Florida’s current unemployment rate is 10.7 percent, and Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate is even higher at 11.0 percent.  The nuclear industry can help bring those numbers down and Florida colleges and universities like the University of Florida and Miami-Dade Community College offer training programs in nuclear engineering, plant operations and more to prepare workers for new job opportunities.

Due to retiring workers and natural attrition, 50 percent of the nuclear industry work force is expected to turn over in the next five years, and the industry will need to hire approximately 25,000 more workers by 2015 to maintain the current workforce.  Did you know that in 2010 alone, the commercial nuclear energy industry hired more than 5,000 individuals for engineering, operations, maintenance and related positions? As a zero-emissions energy source, nuclear energy is good for the environment and good for business.