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temperature increases imposed upon bodies of water whose life- 
Sustaining capacity is more often than not already badly weakened 
by other sed fees (sewage, industrial wastes) has led to both 
national and local restrictive legislation. 
To meet the projected demands of the future, the technology of 
nuclear generating plants has forged ahead rapidly since their intro- 
duction to the power market in 1964. Currently a number of 1,000- 
megawatt (electric) plants are under construction, while it is the 
general consensus that the 2,500-megawatt (electric) liquid-metal- 
cooled fast-breeder reactor will replace present light-water units by 
the 1990’s. Clearly the advent of nuclear technology has been a major 
contributing factor in the emergence of our Nation into what is 
commonly known as the space age. Yet, for all our technological 
capabilities, there is doubt for the first time that the electric industry’s 
capacity will be able to keep up with the rapidly escalating per capita 
demands of our population, which is growing both in numbers and in 
affluence. Each summer, evidence accumulates indicating that the 
power companies are hard pressed to keep up with these demands, 
particularly during peak hours. Many large electric companies in 
cities of the Northeast, notably New York City, have experienced 
brownouts, while the appeals of these companies to customers to 
reduce consumption during peak hours are becoming commonplace. 
The occurrence of brownouts and blackouts poses a serious threat to 
the health, safety, and well-being of the entire Nation. Glenn T. 
Seaborg, Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, 
has speculated on the possible outcries of angry citizens ‘who find 
that power failures due to lack of sufficient generating capacity to 
meet peak loads have plunged them into prolonged blackouts—not 
mere minutes of inconvenience, but hours, perhaps days, when their 
health and well-being, and that of their families, may be seriously 
endangered. The environment of a city whose life’s energy has been 
cut—whose transportation and communications are dead, in which 
medical and police help cannot be had, and where food spoils and 
people stifle or shiver while imprisoned in stalled subways or darkened 
skyscrapers—all this also represents a dangerous environment that 
we must anticipate and work to avoid.” (6) 
One might ask how the present situation has come about. The 
answer is that a combination of unanticipated circumstances has 
handcuffed the electric power industry to the point where it is difficult 
for them to take the necessary steps to alleviate the pressures placed 
on them by increasing demands. The two major stumbling blocks 
encountered by the utility industry have been (1) long delays in 
construction scheduling, and (2) difficulties in securing approval of 
site selections for new generating facilities. 
Delays in construction scheduling 
A major problem facing the power industry is the continual slippage 
in construction schedules and excalation of site labor costs. This is 
usually associated with the specialized nature of the work involved in 
the traditional practice of constructing power stations as one-of-a-kind 
entities. For each new facility, a different set of laborers must be 
recruited, trained, and organized to carry out the specialized construc- 
tion peculiar to that particular plant and geographic site. This prob- 
lem is particularly acute in the construction of nuclear power stations 
