Linn County drafts new ordinance to regulate nuclear power amid Duane Arnold plant talks

LINN COUNTY, Iowa — New regulations are in the works for nuclear energy in Linn County as NextEra energy isconsidering restarting the Dwane Arnold Nuclear Plant.

The Linn County Zoning and Planning Commission says this new ordinance is going to work on regulating nuclear power generation facilities and nuclear waste storage facilities. They also added it would be a first of its kind for many reasons.

“This code is intended to one, meet the immediate needs of Linn County in evaluating the Dwane Arnold energy center restart and then two, look forward to the future and position us to evaluate small modular reactors if they ever do come forward,” Charlie Nichols, Linn County Zoning and Planning Commission Director, said.

If NextEra Energy moves forward with the plant, it’s going to come with its own set of benefits like creating more job opportunities, and Nichols says it does that in more ways than one.

“We’ve seen new businesses locate in Linn County recently, some large ones. And, new businesses are always looking for available power,” Nichols said. “So by adding the nuclear power plant back into our energy mix, we are a more attractive location for new business locations.”

Nichols added that costs were one of the factors for the drafting of this ordinance. He says they want to make sure residents aren’t the only one paying for these changes.

“We are trying to make sure that our increased costs for providing security and safety for the plant, for the storage site are not borne just by the taxpayers, but are paid in part by the nuclear facility,” Nichols said.

NextEra Energy shared that while no decision has been made about the restarting of the plant, they want to work on meeting the demands for energy. In a statement sent to Iowa’s News Now NextEra energy said:

“The Duane Arnold Energy Center represents a unique opportunity to bring online a large, zero-emission energy source to complement our comprehensive energy solutions, which include solar, wind and battery storage facilities, and the largest natural gas fleet in the country. All these energy sources are required to meet the growing need for electricity around the country today.”

In the meantime, the commission is working on protecting the county’s future.

“It really deals with the long-term sustainability of not just the power plant, but also Linn county. Making sure that, yes, this is a good positive economic driver, but the additional costs that come with it are managed well and are not going to have a negative impact on the county or the plant in the future,”

The ordinance will be reviewed and discussed during Monday’s meeting, and you can submit your comments online ahead of the meeting via email at Charlie.Nichols@LinnCountyIowa.gov.

NextEra Energy’s full statement is available below.

NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC is exploring the viability of resuming operations at the Duane Arnold Energy Center to help meet increasing energy demands. To be very clear, no decision has been made on the restart and a significant amount of work needs to be done before that decision can be made. While we know that the cooling towers and maintenance and training buildings would need to be rebuilt, a comprehensive engineering evaluation of the entire site is necessary before any restart decision can be made. We would also need to find an appropriate customer before proceeding. That said, the company is currently recruiting for positions that are needed to continue our evaluation of the facility and other positions that would be essential to the possible restart, including licensed operators, should the company decide to restart plant operations.

NextEra Energy Resources is always looking for opportunities to meet our customers’ needs. The Duane Arnold Energy Center represents a unique opportunity to bring online a large, zero-emission energy source to complement our comprehensive energy solutions, which include solar, wind and battery storage facilities, and the largest natural gas fleet in the country. All these energy sources are required to meet the growing need for electricity around the country today.

NextEra Energy, the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, is a leading operator of nuclear, wind, solar, battery storage and clean natural gas facilities across the country. Of the more than 72 gigawatts of generation owned by the company, nuclear power comprises nearly 6,000 megawatts from four facilities located in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.