Nuclear Industry Targets State Laws

Nuclear Industry Targets State Laws – by Diane Farsetta

Wisconsin’s Balance of Power: The Campaign to Repeal the Nuclear Moratorium

Wisconsin law sets two conditions that must be met before new nuclear power plants can be built in the state. One is that there must be “a federally licensed facility” for high-level nuclear waste. In addition, the proposed nuclear plant “must be economically advantageous to ratepayers.”

It’s a law that the nuclear power industry doesn’t like. Given the near-death of the planned waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, and the estimated $6 to $12 billion cost (pdf) of building one nuclear reactor — not to mention the lack of interest from private investors and the tanking economy — Wisconsin’s law effectively bans new nuclear plants in the state, for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this year, the major U.S. industry group Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) registered four lobbyists in Wisconsin. NEI is lobbying state legislators on issues related to “nuclear generation … engineering education and other issues related to state policies on energy, job creation, and environmental law,” according to disclosure forms.

It’s the first time that NEI has had lobbyists in Wisconsin since at least 1996, though the group has organized public and media events here, especially in recent years. As it does on the national level, NEI argues that building new nuclear power plants would bring good jobs to Wisconsin while helping reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, especially from coal-fired power plants. NEI’s foray into Wisconsin politics is logical and not at all surprising — until you compare it to the group’s apparent lack of interest in other states with similar laws.

via Nuclear Industry Targets State Laws | CommonDreams.org.