Galena’s nuclear option

On the banks of the one the longest rivers in North America sits the village of Galena, located 270 miles west of Fairbanks. One of the checkpoints along the grueling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the community of approximately 600, like many villages throughout the state, is facing a mega-sized energy crisis. Among the village's proposed solutions? Burying a "nuclear battery" -- a super small, self-contained nuclear generator -- in the ground below.

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For most Americans, a $5,000-monthly electric bill is nothing to celebrate. But the day Agnes Huntington received one, she danced for joy. She owns the local grocery store, where electric bills routinely rise above $6,000, and saving $1,000 in one month is a big deal.

"Electric bills are very high because of cost of fuel. A lot of people are having a hard time heating homes and keeping electricity on," said March Runner, the tribal administrator. "It's a problem up and down the river."

In remote Alaska communities where jobs are scarce and shipping drives costs up, rising fuel prices have a magnified effect. Founded at the site of several Athabascan fishing villages, Galena, like other communities along the river system, became a support hub for mining operations during the gold rush. When mineral mania waned, the U.S. Air Force came in, boosting employment and becoming a big consumer of electricity from the local power grid. But a few years ago, the Air Force pulled out, taking the local economy with it.

In a state of triage, Galena is working to make good use of the campus by expanding its school system, which the city hopes will become a sustainable economic base. The school concept is doing well - Iditarod rookie Michael Williams, Jr. is a graduate of the city's vocational boarding academy - but it needs to grow to be viable as a financial hub for the community.

"We are depending on the school. If that doesn't take hold we will be a lost community," said Galena Mayor Russ Sweetsir.

With no true economic center in Galena, diesel-powered electricity is taking an ever-growing economic toll on community members and the city alike.

"When the prices went up last time it just about wiped us out financially in the villages," said Galena Councilman Rand Rosencranz, who works as the chef at the local school.

Everyone is struggling to keep up, and the search is on for a better way.

Toshiba first peddled the idea of a nuclear power generator several years ago. The concept was simple: barge in the self-contained unit, which generates electricity from steam engines powered by heat from the nuclear reactor, drop it in the ground and provide low-cost power to Galena and beyond.

"The idea is that you can just set it there and leave it for 30 years. You don't really need an operator," said former city manager Marvin Yoder, who helped facilitate discussions on the project.

In theory, the nuclear reactor could substantially reduce villagers' electrical bills. At today's prices, the 20 cents per kilowatt hour projection made by Yoder and Toshiba would be a dramatic cut from the 56 cents per kilowatt hour locals currently pay.