• Originally published March 23, 2009 at 3:42 p.m., updated March 23, 2009 at 3:42 p.m.

Poker players, they say, fold their cards if they can't win. It hasn't rained much in Victoria in six months thus, ironically, Exelon hasn't been in the Victoria Advocate. But they have been busy.

Water is the key to electricity and is a component of steam. Last month, I flew over Coleto Creek, Saxet Lake, Lake Texana and the Guadalupe River only to witness the drought first hand. Thank goodness for burn bans.

Exelon's absence in local print is not coincidental. They have snatched up their cards and pointed their crosshairs at Bay City's nuclear plant's stockholders. Rather than wait for rain to launch the all's well campaign, they haven't sat idle since the government has slated billions of dollars for nuclear plant expansion. Unfortunately, the application grants far exceed the printed money available. A preface for shortcuts in the making.

Let's boil the facts. Victoria's expansion of educational facilities, not to mention the downtown upgrade of sidewalks, is tied to our tax base. Get the money from somewhere. You bet. That's local taxpayers. Watch your taxes increase exponentially. Why give the nuclear plant's tax base to Refugio County because Victoria gains a few hundred jobs, and a hell of a lot of exposure with no electrical cost reduction?

Deregulating electricity changed everything. The city of Victoria should entertain this: For as long as there sits loopholes, there stands lawyers. Exelon will give their electricity to the highest bidder, therefore passing the costs to consumers. Thank you for nothing.

Nuclear submarines can prowl beneath seas because the nuclear reactor creates steam pumped into turbine vanes, converting energy to propeller revolutions. Steam is produced by burning coal, natural gas and atomic fission, which in turn boils water. Super-heated steam induced into turbine shafted generators produces electricity. Simple fact.

Let's talk energy and Victoria's future. Supply equaling demand is not an old adage, it's an economic law. The price of gasoline is proportional to the cost of oil. Two prominent environmental issues reported by the Victoria Advocate prove to be water and the hazards of mining uranium, key elements in nuclear fission. The price of gold is skyrocketing. Uranium will control the price of electricity exactly as oil pertains to the price of gas. Gold can be melted and remarketed, uranium waste must be buried . somewhere. Apply simple math to a uranium shortage and factor the liability, you will have the equivalent of $10 for a gallon gas.

Forty-year nuclear permits granted by the government are a worthless piece of paper if the company bankrupts, but then the government can bail them out then clean up the waste. But at what cost?

By the time Exelon completes construction of a nuclear plant, plasma technology will be at the forefront of energy options. France currently prevails as a leader in nuclear megawatt production per capita, but their future energy outlook is taking a turn, as it is in Japan and the United States. France is investing billions of dollars building the largest plasma fusion unit in the world.

Here's why.

Plasma converts garbage landfills and raw sewage into methane gas and steam. Producing temperatures equivalent of a burning sun, plasma technology can and will convert garbage into electricity. If you recall, New York City tried vainly to ship garbage-laden barges south and were met with resistance. France is quietly proceeding to curtail the growing dilemma of nuclear waste disposal.

I'm not anti-nuclear, I'm pro-Victoria.

Citizens with the wherewithal to rent the community center should debate Victoria's future. This time, the microphone goes to the community instead of the long-winded loquaciousness aptly demonstrated when Exelon held the reins. Instead of telling us how good the steak tastes, let us sample your sincerity. If Exelon cares about Victoria, meet us at the community center. This time it will be on our terms. Fair is fair. To the victor, the spoils. Name a date. Send some open-minded engineers instead of press agents. We have got some tough questions that need honest answers.

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