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A measure lifting the moratorium is ready to be sent to Gov.
J.B. Pritzker for his signature. The move opens the door for the
construction and use of small modular reactors, or SMRs, which
are designed to be transported to locations to produce power,
such as manufacturing plants or other large factories.
“The technology itself, it's designed, it’s ready to launch, so
that could be done very quickly, and then you can expect the
energy costs to come down as infrastructure is gradually rebuilt
within the country,” James Walker, the head of reactor
development with NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc. told The Center
Square.
Currently, there are no SMRs in operation or being produced
anywhere in the U.S. A company with a Utah utility that planned
to build the first small modular nuclear plant in the country
canceled the project earlier this month due to escalating costs.
In a statement, NuScale and their partner, Utah Associated
Municipal Power Systems, accepted that “it appears unlikely that
the project will have enough subscription to continue toward
deployment.”
Illinois’ moratorium on new nuclear power generation was put in
place partly because the federal government did not have a plan
to dispose of nuclear waste. Walker said the disposal issue is
not a concern.
“We know how to deal with it, there’s not very much of it and it
should not be a problem and the SMRs that are coming online now
produce even less waste,” Walker said. “It’s not going to be a
significant issue for the industry.”
The law will allow SMRs to produce 300 megawatts of power. That
is compared to a large-scale reactor, which can generate over
2,000 megawatts.
The Nuclear Energy Information Service was not pleased with the
lifting of the nuclear moratorium.
“It would seem the Ghost of Michael Madigan Past still haunts
the hallowed halls of the Legislature, wiping minds clean of any
discomforting memories of utility corruption or $3.05 billion
nuclear bailouts – replacing them with happy thoughts of 'clean,
green, climate fighting, low-cost, built-on-time nuclear power,
for sure!,'” the group said in a statement. "Similar to what
Lucy says to Charlie Brown about kicking footballs."
If signed by the governor, who has indicated he will endorse the
bill, the measure will take effect in 2026. Legislative sponsors
said it could take six to 10 years to obtain the necessary
permits to build a new nuclear reactor in Illinois.
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