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Concerns over proposals for nuclear power in Nebraska and Iowa

Could Nebraska and Iowa go nuclear as part of shift away from fossil fuels?    Omaha World-Herald Feb 21, 2022,  As the world shifts away from fossil fuels, Nebraska and Iowa utilities are among those preparing for the possible use of nuclear power to supplement renewable energy. ………

state and federal governments are reworking regulations and incentives to encourage the revival of nuclear power.

However, critics say the new technology is unproven and presents fresh risks of cost overruns, nuclear accidents and opportunistic terrorist actions.

……………… a seismic shift toward renewable energy is under way. Over the last 10 years, more than half of the new electric power added to the grid came from wind or solar, according to the Edison Electric Institute.

………………………….   The environmental community is united on the urgency of climate change but divided over the issue of nuclear energy.

David Corbin, chairman of the Missouri Valley Sierra Club’s energy committee, pointed to the costs and dangers associated with nuclear power and said the industry lacks sufficient oversight.

Corbin said nuclear power costs two to three times more per megawatt than solar or wind, and it creates deadly waste with no permanent storage solution.

Additionally, Corbin pointed to last week’s report by the Inspector General of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that found that counterfeit, fraudulent or suspect parts were being used in some of the nation’s nuclear plants.

High level nuclear waste from Nebraska’s nuclear power plants is stored about 20 miles north of Omaha at the shuttered Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station and about 70 mile south of Omaha at the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville. If small reactors are built in rural Nebraska, then resulting nuclear waste may likewise be stored at those scattered sites.

February 22, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized