Statewide Iowa (RI) — Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed a task force to advise state officials and lawmakers on nuclear energy technology and infrastructure.
Reynolds signalled this move during her “Condition of the State” address to the legislature last January.
Reynolds has indicated the task force will take a look at the process of granting construction and operating permits for nuclear facilities.
The director of Nuclear Energy Programs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will lead the governor’s task force. Dr. Mark Nutt is an Iowa native and holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in nuclear engineering from Iowa State University.
Executives from three energy companies, Alliant, MidAmerican, and NextEra, are also on the task force, along with the state’s top utility regulator and representatives from unions whose members would be involved in construction and maintenance of a nuclear power plant.
Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham says states from Idaho and Delaware are examining the feasibility of small modular nuclear reactors to meet the growing demand for electricity.
15 years ago a bill debated in the Iowa legislature would have given state utility regulators authority to grant MidAmerican a license for an underground nuclear power facility in Iowa, but the bill stalled in the Senate.
KIWA Staff Photo
