More nuclear power might be part of global warming plan

By Thomas Content
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin would dramatically increase its reliance on renewable energy and relax the state’s ban on construction of nuclear power plants under a proposal unveiled to members of the state’s global warming task force today.

A proposal by the two task force leaders, Tia Nelson and Roy Thilly, calls for the state to generate 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind turbines by 2025. State law now requires that 10 percent of the electricity from state utilities must come from these sources by 2015, but today’s proposal would accelerate that mandate by two years.

On one of the most controversial questions before the panel, Nelson and Thilly suggested a compromise that would not overturn the ban on nuclear power but would modify it to allow utilities to start planning for eventual construction of new reactors.

Wisconsin has two nuclear power plants, in Kewaunee and in Two Rivers.

Gone would be the provision that a federal storage site must be open before the state’s utilities can start the planning process toward building a nuclear plant. The proposal opens the door for reprocessing of nuclear fuel or long-term storage of nuclear waste at nuclear reactors, where the spent nuclear fuel is stored today, Thilly said.

But the changes that would relax the ban would only take effect if the state agrees to the 25 percent renewable energy proposal and a massive investment in energy efficiency and conservation, which most experts agree is the least expensive way to curb emissions in the near term.

Today’s proposal is designed to help the task force come to a consensus on a set of recommendations that would be forwarded to Gov. Jim Doyle, Nelson said.