Illinois’s Governor vetoed a bill that would make nuclear energy production possible again, even though the bill garnered bipartisan and bicameral support in the state.
The first reason given by Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker (D) was that nuclear reactors would be costly to build.
“The bill is vetoed because the vague definitions in the bill, including the overly broad definition of advanced reactors, will open the door to the proliferation of large-scale nuclear reactors that are so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts,” Mr. Pritzker’s office said, cited in a WTVO television report.
“Additionally, it provides no regulatory protections or updates to address the health and safety of Illinois residents who would live and work around these new reactors.”
The first part of Mr. Pritzker’s response is about advanced nuclear reactors, which may refer to a new nuclear technology of small nuclear reactors, according to Capitol News Illinois.
These small modular reactors (SMRs) have not been deployed yet anywhere in the country, and only one design is approved by regulators in the United States.
The second part of the governor’s response mentions health concerns over nuclear energy production.
After nuclear fuel is used, it continues to emit potentially hazardous radiation for tens of thousands of years. Eventually, this spent fuel should be moved to a long-term disposal facility, although no such facility has ever been designated or built in the U.S., Capitol News Illinois reported. “This means waste is often kept on-site at nuclear facilities in pools or in steel canisters designed to block radiation.”
The decades-old moratorium in Illinois, in other words, a prohibition on new nuclear energy plants, included a nuclear waste facility to solve health concerns, but it has never been built. The ban has been in place since 1987.
The Illinois state legislature passed the now-vetoed bill S.B. 0076 in May, a bill that would repeal the state’s moratorium on new nuclear power plant construction.
After passing the Senate in a 39-13 vote on March 30, the legislation proceeded to the House, where it was amended and approved 84–22 on May 18, then sent back to the Senate for concurrence. On May 19, the Senate agreed, 36-14 to the proposed amendment, according to Nuclear Newswire. The bill then went to Gov. Pritzker’s office for the final decision.
Governor Pritzker did not comment on the bill after its passage, but said some words that seemed supportive,
“These are smaller, less prone to an accident, more likely for us to be able to maintain them for a long period of time—that’s something that’s worthy of consideration,” he said. “Now the devil’s in the details, and we want to make sure that we’re not just opening this up to nuclear everywhere or any type of nuclear.”
Proponents of the bill say that nuclear power is a clean form of energy, that aligns with Mr. Pritzker’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which puts Illinois on a path of zero fossil fuel by 2050. In their view, nuclear energy can provide stable electricity when the sunlight is not enough or the wind does not blow.
According to the grid operators that serve Illinois, the state will see an increase of 20 percent in electricity demand in the next 15 years.
Nuclear advocates say that relying solely on renewable energy to meet this demand would be prohibitively expensive. A report commissioned by the Nuclear Energy Institute estimated that aggressive deployment of new nuclear power generation could save customers $449 billion between now and 2050 if the nation meets its carbon-free energy goals.
The Bill’s Details
Introduced on January 20 by Sen. Sue Rezin (R), S.B. 0076 deletes language in the Illinois Public Utilities Act that forbids nuclear plant construction in the state until the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency determines that the federal government “has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly,” Nuclear Newswire reported.Rep. Lance Yednock (D), offered an amendment to S.B. 0076 so that any new power reactor built in Illinois must be “an advanced nuclear reactor” as the term is described in federal law. This does not apply to the license renewal of an existing nuclear reactor.
U.S. Funding for Nuclear
On July 20, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the fiscal year 2024 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, allocating $2.7 billion toward nuclear energy.The bill includes additional funding for small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced nuclear fuel availability to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign sources for uranium, the release said.
