Jul 17 - Daily Reporter (Milwaukee)

The push to lift a moratorium on nuclear power plant construction is gaining momentum at the Capitol, but skeptics are still waiting to continue the debate.

"I'm very much still interested in it, and I will continue to pursue it," said state Rep. Phil Montgomery, the Green Bay Republican who acted as chief Assembly sponsor last session for several bills supporting nuclear power development in the state. "I think the task force's report helps it tremendously."

The governor's task force on global warming last month released a draft of its final report, which didn't call for the construction of new nuclear plants throughout the state, but encouraged discussion of nuclear power's role in Wisconsin's future generation mix. The final report should be adopted July 24.

"The recommendation would allow utilities to prudently plan and propose a nuclear plant, if they believe it is the most cost- effective and beneficial means to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals and their obligations to serve over the long term," according to the draft report.

Brian Manthey, a spokesman for We Energies, said it's time to talk about nuclear power.

"(The report) will bring more debate and attention to the matter," he said. "It's not a giant step for nuclear power. But a year or two ago, we weren't even talking about it."

We Energies used to own the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant in Two Rivers. The plant now is owned by Florida Power & Light Co. Manthey said We Energies still buys nuclear power from the facility, and that option keeps customers' energy bills down.

"Especially with the price of natural gas, if we had to replace all our power sources with natural gas, the costs would be huge," he said. "But it's always better not to rely on one or two particular fuels."

But diversifying Wisconsin's energy mix won't come easy. While bills on expanding nuclear power failed to make it to the governor's desk last session, so, too, did bills on expanding wind power base loads.

State Rep. Charles Benedict, the Beloit Democrat who opposed nuclear legislation last time around, said he is willing to talk about it in the next session.

"I'm still not ready to vote for it," he said. "I'm not going to mortgage the health of future generations for a quick energy fix."

Montgomery complained last year when the Senate refused to take up the bills despite their passage through the Assembly with 58 votes. Carrie Lynch, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said the Democratic caucus supports diversifying the state's portfolio but wants more detailed plans.

"Sen. Decker said last year that he saw no public groundswell for the return of nuclear power," she said. "And there are still concerns about what to do with the waste. ... We'll talk about it, but we're not going to just lift a moratorium to see how we'll do things later."

Montgomery said nuclear legislation will be stronger in the next session. And while he said it might still face resistance, he's glad more people seem willing to listen.

"I'll debate this any time," he said. "The fact is if you want to talk about climate change, you're not being intellectually honest by not including nuclear power."

Originally published by Paul Snyder.

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