Bill would allow new nuclear power plants in MN

HF 2002, which would lift Minnesota’s nuclear moratorium, cleared the House energy committee last week. The bill’s next stop is the House floor.

Current state law prohibits the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission from issuing a certificate of need for a new nuclear power plant. The bill removes that language but would prohibit building any new nuclear facility on Prairie Island and bringing waste from other facilities to Prairie Island.

The U.S. Department of Energy lists nine states that impose statewide moratoriums, but Minnesota “has banned new reactor construction outright,” while other states with bans would allow construction under specific conditions like statewide voter approval or legislative approval. Montana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and West Virginia have lifted their nuclear moratoriums in recent years.

If Minnesota has a prayer of meeting the 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040 requirements of the 2023 law, it’s through nuclear.

The bill now reads (pardon my formatting):

A bill for an act
relating to energy; abolishing prohibition on issuing certificate of need for certain
new nuclear power plants; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 216B.243,
subdivision 3b.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 216B.243, subdivision 3b, is amended to read:

Subd. 3b. Nuclear power plant; new construction prohibited; relicensing.

(a) The commission may not issue a certificate of need for the construction, on Prairie Island, of:

(1) a new nuclear-powered electric generating plant.; or

(2) a new facility designed to store spent nuclear fuel produced by a nuclear-powered
electric generating plant other than the one in operation at Prairie Island.

(b) Any certificate of need for additional storage of spent nuclear fuel for a facility
seeking a license extension shall address the impacts of continued operations over the period for which approval is sought.

EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.