The Illinois Senate passed Sen. Sue Rezin’s bill to end the moratorium on new nuclear power plants. Rezin says lifting the moratorium would let coal-fired power plants switch to small modular reactors. They don’t generate smoke, but they do fit in the places where coal is burned now. And they can operate day or night. Rezin says that would keep the lights on while the state reaches its clean energy goals.
The moratorium on new nuclear power plants goes back to the 1980’s when more people were fearful of them and memories of the Three Mile Island meltdown in Pennsylvania were fresh.
Rezin, Win Stoller, and Tom Bennett voted for the bill. It now goes to the House.