In search of an alternative to fossil fuels, Wisconsin lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on a proposed bill that would terminate the moratorium on new nuclear power plants.
The moratorium, which passed more than 20 years ago, was enacted to ensure two key aspects: that there would be a permanent repository for nuclear wastes and that nuclear power would be an economically competitive energy source.
The bill proposed Wednesday would nullify the moratorium, which may lead to the possible construction of new nuclear power plants.
'The technology of the nuclear power industry continues to move forward,' said state Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer, D-Manitowoc. 'These plants were built in the late '60s and early '70s and the technology for nuclear power is much more safe and comprehensive than it was then. Just imagine how much technology has changed in 35 years.'
Caryl Terrell, chapter director for the Sierra Club in Madison, said she thinks this proposal is harmful to Wisconsin.
'Nuclear power is a dangerous energy source that creates more problems than it solves,' Terrell said. 'Switching from dirty coal plants to dangerous nuclear power is like giving up smoking cigarettes and taking up crack.'
Terrell said the committee should be pursuing cleaner renewable resources like wind and solar power.
However, Vicki Bier, UW-Madison professor of industrial and systems engineering, said solar power and wind would require large amounts of land for a relatively small amount of energy.
'I think if you're looking at something that has enough energy density to really fuel a modern economy to a large extent, we're probably going to be looking at nuclear power as at least part of that, even if we're also going forward on solar power and wind,' Bier said.
Regarding the two rules set by the moratorium, state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said the current law should not be changed.
'I consider them common sense standards. One would say that before you create more nuclear waste, which will stay poisonous for more than 10,000 years, you have to have a place to put it,' Black said. 'The second safeguard is that a nuclear energy power plant would have to be less expensive than an alternative.'
According to a statement, state Rep. and Assembly Majority Leader Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said the problem of alternative energy is not going away and neither will the debate over the use of nuclear energy.
'Nuclear power has unfairly been taken off the table, even though it's proven itself to be every bit as safe, and more effective, as most other sources of power,' Huebsch said in a statement.
