Voinovich is the ranking member on the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Senate Subcommittee. He supports plans to build a nuclear power plant in the Southern Ohio city of Piketon and hopes Virginia-based Babcock & Wilcox's plan to manufacture small reactors in Euclid is part of a larger trend toward nuclear power in the Buckeye State. Each of the proposed 125-megawatt commercial use reactors could power about 80,000 to 100,000 homes.
Voinovich: "These vessels are going to be built right here in the United States in Eulid, Ohio. That's what we need."
The Euclid facility currently employs 240 people. About 70 are technical workers and engineers. Once the facility begins work on the new reactor, General Manager Pete Goumas says he expects those numbers to increase significantly.
Goumas: "We could generate up to 100 jobs in the Euclid area between now and the end of the decade."
Babcock and Wilcox says their plan will be submitted for approval to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2011. Should they be approved, construction will begin in 2019.
Caitlin Johnson, 90.3