“About half of those jobs will go to electricians and pipe fitters, and they’ll pay Davis-Bacon wages,” Wamp said.

Wage determinations for specific jobs are issued by the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal Davis-Bacon Act of 1931. The determinations apply to federally funded or assisted construction projects.

Current DOL determinations for Rhea County require wages of $26.24 per hour for electricians and $22.21 per hour for pipe fitters.

Wamp said that the nation must increase nuclear power production to meet future demands. He said that the country currently has 103 nuclear reactors and he set a goal of 140 reactors in the future.

TVA, which at one time planned to build 17 nuclear reactors, would have seven in operation upon the completion of WBN Unit 2.

“It means a lot for the region as far as jobs and economic development, which is one of TVA’s original missions, and it means a lot for our country that this quasi-governmental agency can help stand nuclear power back up,” Wamp said.

The United States will need to increase electric power production by 6,000 megawatts in the future, and WBN Unit 2 will produce 1,200 megawatts, according to Wamp. He said that nuclear power is an essential ingredient of any national energy policy in light of global warming because it produces zero carbon emissions.

“Conservation alone will not get the job done,” he said. “Maximum usage of renewables will not get the job done. They are both important, but if we expand nuclear capacity we can shut down the coal burning plants and the lights will not go out.”

Addressing the issue of nuclear waste, Wamp called for following the model of France and Great Britain in dealing with nuclear waste. Both countries recycle spent nuclear fuel to produce more energy.

“I know it sounds funny to say we should be learning from the French, but they produce 80 percent of their energy with nuclear power, and they are able to recycle 80 percent of the waste,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy has granted $16 million to four companies that are competing to win a contract to develop a nuclear waste recycling demonstration. TVA is involved with three of the four companies, according to TVA Senior Vice President for Nuclear Generation and Construction Ashok Bhatnager.

“The goal is to do the recycling onsite, and TVA has a goal of developing the process for use at Watts Bar UnitS 1 and 2 and Brown’s Ferry, demonstrating to the nation that it can be done, and then sharing the process with other nuclear energy producers,” Wamp said.

The plan to bury nuclear waste at a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., has been stalled by politics, Wamp said. According to the DOE, nuclear reactors have produced more than 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel. By 2010, DOE expects the figure to exceed 60,000 metric tons. Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has a projected capacity of 77,000 metric tons of waste. Bhatnager said that the Yucca Mountain project would still be necessary to deal with the 20 percent of nuclear waste that would remain after recycling.

“But, with only 20 percent of the waste left to be placed in a repository, the capacity of Yucca Mountain would not be met anywhere near as quickly” he said.