Duane Arnold nuclear plant decommissioning
The Duane Arnold nuclear plant ceased operation on August 10, 2020, after it scrammed (went into emergency shut-down) during the derecho, a straight-line hurricane-force wind. The derecho damaged the plant's cooling towers. Originally the plant was going to stop producing power in October of 2020. The power plant is in Palo, Iowa, which is northwest of Cedar Rapids.
The plant received its operating license in 1974. The license was renewed in 2010. It has not been operating since it was shut down in 2020.
The power plant went into the SAFSTOR mode, which puts the plant into decommissioning status toward permanent shutdown. The fuel has been removed from the reactor. The plan was that the spent fuel rods would all be moved into dry cask storage. At this point, the spent fuel rods will remain on-site since there is no national site for collecting and storing spent fuel.
Because nuclear waste is radioactive for thousands of years, there will be some special considerations and handling that must take place.
Don’t Restart Duane Arnold
NextEra, the owner of Duane Arnold, has now taken steps to restart Duane Arnold. Restarting a closed reactor in decommissioning status has never been attempted. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) admits that there are no regulations authorizing the restart of a closed reactor. In order to restart Duane Arnold, NextEra will have to cobble together a daisy chain of existing regulations that is of doubtful legality, as is being attempted at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Nor is there any assurance that the operation could be done safely.
The Duane Arnold plant has been in the decommissioning process for over 5 years. So it is not just a matter of putting fuel back in the reactor and starting it up. Even the Palisades reactor will require an expensive and tricky process to attempt to restart. And no decommissioning activity had been done there.
Aside from the cost to taxpayers and the risky regulatory process for relicensing the plant, there are serious negative aspects to nuclear power. Contrary to the nuclear industry’s assertions, nuclear power is not clean or renewable. Nuclear reactor fuel is made from uranium, which is mined from the ground, just like oil, gas or coal. No one refers to those energy sources as renewable. The uranium that is mined leaves tailings and uranium processing leaves behind radioactive waste and harmful chemicals. During the operation of the nuclear plant, a radioactive material, tritium, often leaks and pollutes groundwater. But the really dirty aspect of nuclear power is the radioactive waste, primarily spent nuclear fuel.
There is approximately 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel in the United States today. And more is being added each day. Restarting Duane Arnold would add even more. And no one knows what to do with it. Efforts to establish a permanent repository have failed. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed two “interim’ storage facilities in New Mexico and Texas. But neither New Mexico nor Texas want it. Those storage facilities have still not been constructed. One federal court said the spent fuel will remain dangerous for “time spans seemingly beyond human comprehension.”
With no foreseeable likelihood of having a permanent repository, these “interim” facilities will become de facto permanent repositories without the protections of a permanent repository.
However, there is an alternative - solar, wind, and battery storage. However, NextEra abandoned 4 solar projects in favor of restarting Duane Arnold.
The driver of this restart proposal is Google, who is planning to build 6 data centers near the Duane Arnold site and who has entered into an agreement with NextEra to purchase the power produced by Duane Arnold.
The Duane Arnold plant was closed because it was uneconomical in the face of the increase in renewables. Nothing has changed.
For more information
Iowa’s Energy Future - Nuclear Risks vs. Renewable Solutions Press Conference
History of Nuclear Energy in Iowa
Nuclear Power is not renewable energy. Uranium is mined. It leaves behind toxic waste, slag piles, and destroyed land. See our lunch and learn "Uranium: Mined, Not Renewable", presented on September 5, 2025
Resources
Richard Pratt, "Spent fuel from Duane Arnold Energy Center moving to on-site dry storage", Corridor Business Journal, October 13, 2021
John Steppe, "What's next for Duane Arnold? Derecho damage prompts nuclear plant not to restart", Cedar Rapids Gazette, September 27, 2020
Decommissioning Process - Phases, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, slide presented on September 24, 2020, public meeting webinar
Gage Miskimen, "Duane Arnold moves its spent fuel into storage", Cedar Rapids Gazette, May 4, 2022
Duane Arnold Energy Center, NextEra Energy Duane Arnold LLC, Central Iowa Power Cooperative, Corn Belt Power Cooperative, Decommissioning Funding Status Report, 2020
"DAEC's Hansen offers insight into nuke closure process", Corridor Business Journal, December 1, 2020
“Nuclear power is failing, and AI can’t rescue it” by Amory B. Lovins in UtilityDive, September 5, 2025
"Renewables vs. Nuclear in Iowa" by Mark Z Jacobson, September 29, 2025
"Analysis of Changes in Local Health Near Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant" by Joseph Mangano, September 23, 2025
Mark Z. Jacobson, "7 reasons why new small & large nuclear is useless", YouTube