PORT GIBSON &045; Twenty years after Grand Gulf Nuclear Station began operation, Claiborne County waits to hear whether it will be the home to a second nuclear plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in recent weeks, narrowed down to six finalists the sites being considered as a location for the new plant. The federal agency said it would narrow the list to two by October.

But at least one Claiborne County official said he hopes to hear by the end of the year whether that county has been chosen. And he and others hope that this time, more revenues from the plant will stay at home.

Not that Claiborne doesn’t receive millions in revenues and scores of jobs from the plant, which opened in 1985 &045; it does, said Charles Shorts, president of the Claiborne County Board of Supervisors.

As of 2003, the last year for which figures were available from the State Auditor’s Office, Claiborne County took in $9.1 million in total revenues.

When asked how much of the county’s budget comes from Grand Gulf, Shorts let out a laugh. &uot;All of it,&uot; he said.

Not quite. Still, the plant pays $8 million a year to the county and to its county seat, Port Gibson, according to figures from Entergy, the power company that owns the first Grand Gulf plant.

Port Gibson Mayor Amelda Arnold could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.

Shorts said the money the county receives from the plant isn’t earmarked for any particular purpose, meaning it can go into the general fund to pay for everything from personnel to public services.

But some have pointed out that local

governments could and, he added, should have gotten more &045; for one, A.C. Garner, spokesman for the county’s NAACP chapter.

That chapter &045; along with several other groups, such as the Sierra Club of Mississippi &045; have filed their concerns with the NRC.

Grand Gulf Nuclear Station pays at least $20 million in property taxes to the state a year. But after the plant was built, the Legislature changed the rules of how its revenue was to be distributed, Garner said.

&uot;They decided it was best to take that money and distribute it among the other counties,&uot; Garner said.

Garner, formerly a civil defense director for the county, said his concerns include the fact that at least part of the money Claiborne County is losing could be used to better protect its citizens in case there’s a breach at the plant.

Improving &uot;radiation protection is an ongoing thing,&uot; Garner said. &uot;That could be used as money for citizen education, to improve evacuation routes, for fire and sheriff’s departments &045; all sorts of things.&uot;

Shorts understands the NAACP’s concerns. &uot;They and everybody else want to make sure the tax dollars stay in Claiborne County,&uot; Short said.

Meanwhile, Shorts said the county needs the economic benefits such a plant could bring. The current plant employs more than 700 people, including more than 100 from Port Gibson itself.

It pays almost $55 million in payroll and almost $9.5 million in benefits each year at a time when large industries, at least in southwest Mississippi, are few and far between.

&uot;And in order to grow our economy, we must look at new ventures&uot; like the proposed second plant, Shorts said. &uot;We’re waiting and hoping &045; and praying &045; that this comes through.&uot;