SC River Site Debuts New Green Power Plant

SAVANNAH RIVER SITE, S.C. (AP) _ Officials at the Savannah River Site have opened a $795 million power plant that uses materials like wood chips and shredded tires to provide 30 percent of the electricity for the old nuclear weapons plant near Aiken. Officials cut the ribbon on the Biomass Co-Generation Facility on Monday. The plant became fully operational earlier this month. The green power plant replaces several 50-year-old plants that burned oil and coal. Massachusetts-based Ameresco says the new plant will release 100,000 fewer tons of polluting greenhouse gases into the air each year. Ameresco guaranteed the U.S. government that it will save $34 million a year over the 19-year contract. The Savannah River Site used to make nuclear weapons materials, but now makes fuel for nuclear plants.