News & Views

Nukes in Wisconsin Not Likely
Republicans distort nuclear power recommendations
B Y L I S A K A I S E R

“IT DOESN’T REPEAL THE MORATORIUM,” SAID DOYLE SPOKESMAN LEE SENSENBRENNER. “IT’S NOT A GREEN LIGHT FOR NUCLEAR POWER.”

Gov. Jim Doyle is following John McCain’s lead into a nuclear future, the Republican Party of Wisconsin crowed last week. Nuclear supporters claimed that Doyle, who’s seeking to become a green governor, wants to end the 25-year-old moratorium on building nuclear power plants in Wisconsin.

“After years of opposition to nuclear energy it appears Gov. Jim Doyle became the first Democrat to abandon Barack Obama’s ‘no’ policy as Americans continue to struggle with high energy prices,” state Republican Party Chair Reince Priebus claimed in a press release. “Now willing to lift the nuclear moratorium, Doyle’s stance is more in line with Senator John McCain, who has called for 45 new nuclear power plants in the United States by 2030. We sup port Doyle’s willingness to follow McCain’s leadership as he listens to Wisconsinites in need of a solution to our energy crisis.”

“It’s good to see Senator McCain’s mes sage of expanding the use of nuclear power is resonating in Wisconsin,” Republican Congressman Paul Ryan chimed in. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piled on with the headline: “Doyle favors lifting nuclear moratorium.”

The problem, though, is that this simply isn’t true. Doyle, a strong supporter of Obama, is not suddenly embracing McCain’s longtime love for nuclear power.

The governor supports a recommenda tion from his Global Warming Task Force, which would “modify Wisconsin’s cur rent moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants to allow this option to be considered in the future,” the report states.

The key word is “modify.” Not “lift.” “It doesn’t repeal the moratorium,” said Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner. “It’s not a green light for nuclear plants.”

Changes Could Strengthen the Moratorium

In fact, the Task Force recommended placing new restrictions on nuclear plants. Three nuclear plants already operate in the state—in Kewaunee, Point Beach, and on the UW-Madison campus. All three were built before the 1983 moratorium placed conditions on the con struction of new nuclear power plants.

Currently, before a new nuclear plant can be constructed, a federally licensed repos itory—such as Yucca Mountain, near Las Vegas—must be available to take in all of Wisconsin’s nuclear waste. Right now, nuclear waste is kept on-site at Wisconsin’s individual facilities, since no federally licensed repository exists.

In addition, the state Public Service Commission (PSC) must find that a new nuclear plant must be “economically advantageous” to Wisconsin ratepayers. Those conditions could be modified if the recommendations from Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming are put into place.

The Task Force recommended that new nuclear plants could be considered if—and only if: Its recommended policies for conserva tion, efficiency and renewable energy are in place first The PSC finds that a new nuclear power plant is “safe, economic and in the public interest” The electricity is either generated by or sold to a Wisconsin utility, and the power is sold to electricity customers in the state.

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