Wisconsin: Open for a Nuclear Waste Site?

Today we and our partners at the Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free Coalition delivered a letter to all members of the State Legislature asking them to oppose the proposal to repeal Wisconsin’s nuclear moratorium—Wisconsin’s commonsense protections against the high cost of constructing nuclear reactors, and the costs and risks of permanent storage of radioactive waste in Wisconsin.

The letter pointed out the concerns about the high costs of nuclear power.  The letter pointed to the most recent nuclear power plant proposals—currently under construction.  Both plants (with two reactors) have significantly exceeded their $14 Billion cost estimates and are on track to cost almost $21 billion!  

This conversation has been resurrection, in part, to address the very serious need to reduce our carbon emissions in order to stop the worst effects of climate change and to comply with the Clean Power Plan.  However, there are much cheaper ways to do this, like expanding wind, solar and geothermal energy.  Nothing makes more sense than investing in energy efficiency and reducing our energy demands in the first place.  We can create more jobs this way as well—the solar industry has added 20% more employees in just one year alone!

The other concern mentioned in the letter was the concern that this could open Wisconsin up to host a nuclear waste depository.  The letter explains:

Removing Wisconsin’s ratepayer protections from the exorbitant cost of nuclear reactors could have much more severe unintended consequences. If passed, this could send a strong message to the Department of Energy (DOE) that Wisconsin is open to hosting a nuclear waste repository.  A 2008 DOE Study on the Need for a Second Repository listed Wisconsin as one of the top potential states based on our granite geology. After the cancellation of the potential Yucca Mountain repository, the DOE is desperate to find an alternative. Further, even if Yucca Mountain had opened, it is not large enough to store the nuclear waste generated by the current fleet of nuclear reactors, let alone any new reactors.

In the 1980s, the DOE ranked Wisconsin’s Wolf River Batholith as Number Two for a second high-level nuclear waste repository.  The Batholith is a 1,000 square mile watershed that extends over seven counties, including Langlade, Shawano, Waupaca, Menominee, Portage, Marathon and Oconto counties, and the land of three tribes (Stockbridge-Munsee, Menominee and Ho-Chunk).    This area has piqued interests due to the granite geology and our lack of earthquakes.  Though this makes sense, it doesn’t make sense to force Wisconsin to be our Nation’s dumping ground for this highly dangerous, radioactive waste.  It also doesn’t make sense given Wisconsin is such a water-rich state, bordered by the Great Lakes, allowing a disaster to potentially spread far and wide.

If some of these radioactive contaminates leaked into our water supply, it could be a disaster.  The potential storage site could be dangerously close to the Fox River.  If the contaminates leaked it,  contaminated water could then flow from the Wolf River into the Fox River, which connects to Lake Winnebago and into Lake Michigan near Green Bay, putting many people in this area at risk. This could lead to damage to your body including cancer and birth defects.  This exposure is can be long-lasting and the effects could occur much later in life.

One of the radioactive materials is plutonium.   As the Nuclear Information Resource Services explains: “Each 1000 megawatt nuclear power reactor annually produces about 500 pounds of plutonium.  After several years, when removed from the reactor core, the fuel is about one million times more radioactive than when it was loaded.”  That’s a lot of plutonium.   If inhaled, a tiny particle of plutonium, one millionth of a gram can cause lung cancer.

Luckily, this proposal never picked up steam because it was met with such severe opposition.  In a 1983 statewide referendum, 89% voted against a nuclear waste disposal site in Wisconsin.  Part of the reason for the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain site was the opposition from the State of Nevada.  States across the country have passed laws banning the construction of new reactors and others are quickly moving into a clean energy economy that does not include nuclear. It may not bode well to have Wisconsin, already Number Two on the list for a repository, send a strong pro-nuclear message to the Department of Energy.

The Assembly will be voting on the bill today.  There is still time to contact your State Senator and protect Wisconsin from this potential catastrophe.