Hastings residents weigh in on potential nuclear reactor site

HASTINGS, Neb. — The City of Hastings hosted an open house to discuss its candidacy as a potential site for small modular reactors. The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) is considering 16 cities across the state, including Kearney, Grand Island, Holdrege, and Lexington, as candidate sites.

Nicole Sedlacek, NPPD’s economic development manager, emphasized the importance of community attitude in the selection process. “I think we have a lot of misconceptions and misperceptions on what nuclear technology is. And so tonight, we’re wanting people to engage in dialog, ask questions, ask questions about the safety aspect of it, bring their concerns forward,” she said.

Derek Zeisler, Hastings’ manager of utilities, noted that the city’s status as a college town with transportation infrastructure and natural resources makes it a strong contender. “So we check a lot of the boxes for down the road if, if anybody, including Hastings Utilities, was interested in building on and continuing with us,” he said.

Dozens of Hastings residents attended the event to learn more about small modular reactors and the NPPD’s plans. James Hill, a Hastings resident for over 79 years, expressed his curiosity and concerns. “I guess my main question is number one, what type of reactors they have and how safe they are and everything we read. They’re a whole lot safer than they’ve ever been. But I think people are gonna go back to what’s been in the history and how dangerous they can be,” Hill said.

Currently, the Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville is Nebraska’s only nuclear facility, operational since 1974. Dan Buman, special assistant to the CNS site vice president, highlighted the benefits of hosting nuclear reactors, including the potential for hundreds of new jobs. “Nuclear safety has backups to the backups to the backups, if you will. We have been able to operate Cooper negotiations have been operating for over 50 years safely without any incident,” he said.

The NPPD is conducting a feasibility study funded by a state grant and aims to narrow the list of candidate cities to less than four by the end of the year. Hill, still learning about the project, is leaning towards supporting the idea for the community’s benefit. “I would say at this point, yes. But I’m afraid that’s why I’m here. To decide what I think is best. What we think is best,” he said.