BOISE, Idaho, Sept. 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today's jobs report from the U.S. Dept. of Labor continues to highlight the need for U.S private sector job growth.
"But there is an excellent way to create millions of high-paying jobs," says Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc (OTCBB:AEHI). "Build new nuclear plants."
Gillispie has the experience and numbers to back up his statement. He is a 45-year veteran of the nuclear industry. Now his company is on track to build two big plants in Payette County, Idaho. He expects approval from the county and state by the end of the year.
The plants will take about five years to build, directly employing more than 5,000 workers during that time. And since nuclear plants need hundreds of thousands of tons of concrete, more than 30,000 tons of steel, and countless specialized parts from a giant chain of suppliers, the total number of jobs created by the plants will actually be in the tens of thousands.
Now imagine ten or so such projects around the country, says Gillispie. "That would create close to a million jobs." Nuclear power could singlehandedly make a sizable dent in the nation's unemployment rate, dropping it below 9%. "The nuclear industry is the greatest job creator we have in the country today," says Gillispie. After construction is finished, new dual unit plants would offer about 1,000 permanent well-paying jobs per project with another 2,000 or so indirect jobs.
The nation as a whole benefits from the increased number of workers earning wages and paying taxes. And in the regions where new plants are built, the economic impacts would be enormous. Payette County, for instance, now has an unemployment rate higher than Idaho's average and faces a budget shortfall of $500,000. If construction goes forward, Gillispie's plants will drop the unemployment rate to one of the lowest in the country, and add $100 million per year to county tax revenue. The project will also bring billions to the state of Idaho. "It will be huge boon to the area—and to the country," says Gillispie.
Building nuclear plants brings benefits over and beyond new jobs. The industry produces reliable and clean electricity, without the threat of pollution, oil spills, and other environmental damage.
But today's job report is another sobering reminder of how long lasting the economic crisis has become—and how valuable the nuclear industry can be to pulling the nation out of its slump.
About Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. (http://www.AlternateEnergyHoldings.com) -- Alternate Energy Holdings develops and markets innovative clean energy sources. The company is the nation's only independent nuclear power plant developer seeking to build new power plants in multiple non-nuclear states. Other projects include Energy Neutral(TM), which removes energy demands from homes and businesses (http://www.EnergyNeutralinc.com) Colorado Energy Park (nuclear and solar generation), and Green World Water(TM), which assists developing countries with nuclear reactors for power generation (http://www.GreenWorld-H2O.com), production of potable water and other suitable applications. AEHI China, headquartered in Beijing, develops joint ventures to produce nuclear plant components and consults on nuclear power.
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