American Electric Power 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report

16 Environmental Performance pact. Consequently, Cook Plant will need to store its lowlevel waste on-site in High Intensity Containers (HICs) built in the 1990s. Cook currently generates enough low-level waste to fill seven of these HICs annually, on average, but will implement process improvements designed to reduce the number of HICs needed to four per year, thus reducing our storage needs. Members of the Eastern Lands Resource Council visit AEP's Conesville Plant to learn about the company's land management practices. Beginning in 2011, Cook Plant will employ on-site dry cask spent nuclear fuel storage until a permanent facility becomes available. The Cook on-site storage facility was originally designed to hold five years of waste; the changes made recently have extended its life to approximately 20 years – a necessity because a permanent storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level waste remains elusive. We are disappointed and frustrated that the federal government has made no significant progress in meeting its obligation to take and store high-level nuclear waste. Since the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, we and other nuclear generator operators have paid into a fund administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In exchange, DOE is responsible for licensing, building and operating a permanent high-level nuclear waste storage facility. The DOE has not met its 1998 deadline to begin taking spent nuclear fuel. We and other utilities have sued the DOE and a court ruled in our favor. The ruling requires that we prove the amount of our damage claims against the DOE periodically. For nuclear power to be a viable, long-term part of our energy future, the current impasse over permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste needs to be resolved. ECOLOGICAL STEWARDSHIP & BIODIVERSITY sult in significant long-term savings compared with the cost of perpetually treating the runoff. It also will improve the water quality of nearby Wills Creek. In 2006, the most recent year for which data are available, AEP produced nearly 8.4 million tons of coal ash products. Use of CCPs resulted in approximately $18.6 million in avoided costs that would otherwise have been incurred to build and operate landfills for these byproducts. For more information about coal combustion byproducts and their uses, visit www.AEP.com/about/coalCombustion/ projects.htm. Although there are many beneficial uses for coal com- bustion products, we are reminded by stakeholders that environmental impacts also must be considered when determining how and where this ash will be used. We have heard these concerns and we are listening. We will do a better job of taking these considerations into account. MANAGING NUCLEAR WASTE Nuclear energy will likely play an increasingly important role in the nation’s energy future, especially in a carbonconstrained world. However, the storage of nuclear waste presents a significant challenge. For example, AEP’s Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman, Mich., generates emissions-free energy. Cook Plant has been shipping its low-level nuclear waste to a storage facility in Barnwell, S.C. However, this option will no longer be available after June 2008 to companies that are not part of the Atlantic Interstate Low Level Waste Com- The construction and operation of AEP facilities have the potential to affect biodiversity if not well-managed. For example, the installation of pollution control equipment and associated landfills has resulted in the loss of wetland and riparian areas; however, these losses have been mitigated. Some of our hydroelectric facilities operate on waters considered to be of high biodiversity or ecological value. http://www.AEP.com/about/coalCombustion/projects.htm http://www.AEP.com/about/coalCombustion/projects.htm

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Electric Power 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report

American Electric Power 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report Contents Leadership, Management & Strategy A Message from Michael G. Morris A Message from Dennis E. Welch About This Report Environmental Performance Work Force Issues Public Policy Climate Change Energy Security, Reliability & Growth Stakeholder Engagement Glossary GRI Table of Contents

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