Kentucky leading the way on nuclear energy?!

In the most recent issue of the Heartland Institute's Environment and Climate News, Jay Donovan reports on efforts by Kentucky legislators to end the state's moratorium on building nuclear power plants...

Three Kentucky legislators have introduced legislation in the state House and Senate to end a 25-year moratorium on nuclear power plant construction in the state.

The moratorium was enacted in 1984 and banned the construction of any new power plants until a national containment facility for spent nuclear fuel becomes operational.

Yucca Mountain in Nevada is the designated national storehouse for spent nuclear fuel. Although the U.S. Department of Energy reports an extremely safe Yucca Mountain facility can be operational within a decade, political and legal maneuvering by nuclear power opponents has put the facility in limbo....

With at least 25 applications now in the pipeline for nuclear construction licenses in states other than Kentucky, state Sens. Bob Leeper (I-Paducah) and Charlie Borders (R-Russell) and state Rep. Steven Rudy (R-West Paducah) have sponsored the companion Senate and House bills that would open Kentucky for modern nuclear technology.

The legislators propose replacing the requirement of a national spent fuel facility with a requirement that any new nuclear power plant comply with all federal safety standards.

Leeper emphasizes Kentucky should be on an equal footing with other states as energy companies roll out new nuclear power plant proposals....