Nuclear Madness Committee

Katie Nekola

During this past fall and winter, Clean Wisconsin participated in the Legislative Council "Special Committee on Nuclear Power", chaired by Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Green Bay. Committee members included five legislators, and 12 public members, among them representatives from the electrical workers union, the Wisconsin Paper Council, Dairyland Power, UW-Madison, and other public and private organizations and individuals. What most members of the committee had in common, according to statements made at the first meeting, was that they supported nuclear power in Wisconsin.

The stated purpose of this committee was to "study the role of nuclear power in Wisconsin's energy future, and to develop legislation that implements the recommended role, including, as appropriate, any modifications in the state's moratorium law." The committee's chair, Rep. Montgomery, made it clear right away that he believed the nuclear moratorium law, which has been on the books for over twenty years, should be repealed. This law does not prohibit building new nuclear power plants; rather, it sets forth two reasonable conditions that must be met before new construction can take place: that there must be a permanent radioactive waste disposal site available, and that building new nuclear plants must be in the economic interests of ratepayers (i.e., not make our electric bills skyrocket). So far, neither condition can be met, because the long-promised Yucca Mountain disposal site has not opened and seems less likely to open every day, and because nuclear power plants remain extremely expensive to build.

However, proponents of nuclear power, such as the nuclear industry-funded UW-Madison Department of Engineering Physics, gloss over these practical and important issues, instead pushing for more nukes at any price, and regardless of whether expansion of the nuclear fleet results in Wisconsin becoming a permanent radioactive waste dump. Because the sole purpose of the "study committee" was to conclude that the moratorium law should be repealed, the committee heard a series of presentations from overwhelmingly pro-nuclear speakers, and the predictable majority vote at the end was to repeal the protective moratorium law. Clean Wisconsin, CUB, and the Energy Center of Wisconsin dissented from this vote, as did Senator Dave Hansen and Rep. Chuck Benedict, and Richard Shaten, professor at the UW Energy Analysis and Policy Program.

This majority vote does not mean that the law will be repealed, however. The committee's recommendations go next to the full Legislative Council, which decides whether to introduce them as legislation. If they make such a recommendation, the bills must pass both houses of the legislature and the governor must approve them. Fortunately, Governor Doyle has promised that he will wisely veto any legislation to repeal the nuclear moratorium law.

For more information about nuclear issues in Wisconsin, contact Katie Nekola at (608) 25107020 extension 14 or knekola@cleanwisconsin.org.