Wisconsin nuclear construction bill introduced

Wisconsin State Sen. Frank Lasee (R-1) and Rep. Kevin Petersen (R-40) introduced companion bills in both chambers of the Wisconsin State Legislature that would overturn the ban on constructing nuclear facilities in the state.

This bill would amend state law so that the Public Service Commission (PSC) would be allowed to certify construction of nuclear reactors. It would also facilitate that nuclear energy would be added to the list of viable energy sources for consideration.

Current state law says that there must be a facility that is federally licensed with enough capacity to manage all spent fuel from any nuclear reactor in the state and that construction of the plant must bring an advantage to ratepayers in the state. Because there is no facility in the U.S. that could fit the first requirement at this time, this essentially bans any construction of nuclear facilities in the state. This set of bills would eliminate these requirements from PSC certification.

Under state law agencies and local governments are tasked with the designing of energy projects to replace aging energy infrastructure that is cost-effective and feasible. These bills state that advanced nuclear reactor designs approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) would be considered after combustible renewable energy and before non-renewable energy sources.

This set of bills have been sent to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy and the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities.