Kewaunee County on the cusp of a nuclear power revival  

CARLTON, Wis. — Wisconsin could be home to the newest nuclear reactors.

Earlier this year, the Utah-based company Energy Solutions submitted an application for a major licensing action for new nuclear generation at the Kewaunee Power Station site.

This typically means the company is considering the construction or operation of a new advanced nuclear reactor.

“This is an important milestone in moving towards the next generation of nuclear power in Wisconsin in partnership with WEC Energy Group,” said Ken Robuck, president and CEO of Energy Solutions.

After more than a decade, the Kewaunee Power Station is looking to come back online. Some said it could boost the local economy, while others have environmental concerns.

“There’s a need for the power now,” said David Hardtke, chairman of the Town of Carlton, where the Kewaunee Nuclear Plant is located.

He said he’s eager to see the plant back in service.

“It would be jobs, which Kewaunee County needs badly,” Hardtke said.

David Hardtke, Carlton Town Board chairperson. (Spectrum News 1/Rhonda Foxx)

Kewaunee officials reported up to 1,000 jobs were linked to the plant in the past. It was shut down in 2013 because of competition from lower-cost subsidized electricity generation.

Hardtke said the town is ready for the plant to start generating nuclear power again.

“They’re all for it because it would lower our taxes, our property taxes, because we have utility payments coming back into the town,” Hardtke said.

State Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Green Bay, said Wisconsin uses more power in its homes than it produces.  

He said using energy from this local plant would help lower utility costs.

“So part of why our electrical costs are as high as they are is because we have to import it from other states and even from other countries. We import energy from Canada, so it’s cheaper if you make it here at home,” Sortwell said.

“It is going to be a real eye-opening situation if a power plant opens here,” Communications Director with Clean Wisconsin Amy Barrilleaux said.

She said nuclear reactors are the most expensive way to produce energy in Wisconsin.

“Our energy utilities make a required profit off of anything they build. So, they spend $10, $15 or $20 billion building a power plant, they get a 12% in additional rate of return from their customers to pay for that,” Barrilleaux said.

(Spectrum News 1/Rhonda Foxx)

Barrilleaux also said nuclear plants use a lot of water and contribute to thermal pollution.

“Cooling nuclear reactors is typically put back right back into Lake Michigan, that cooling water, but it’s put back hot, and that causes huge problems in the ecosystem, right? When you put very hot water into Lake Michigan, a body of water that’s not supposed to be hot, it’s typically cold,” Barrilleaux said.

The Town of Cartlon is located by Lake Michigan, so Hardtke said it has been approached to host data centers.

Nuclear energy is being turned to as a source of power for data centers because of its round-the-clock, reliable baseload power. But Hardtke said there won’t be any data centers in his town.

“If Carlton is hosting the power plant, we don’t have to host everything, so they can locate their Cloverleaf and other data centers someplace else. There’s nothing else that can be done with that property, because there’s spent fuel city sitting on it, so it’s the best use for the property, and the people would like to see it up and running again,” Hardtke said.

David Hardtke looks at the inside of the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Station. (Spectrum News 1/Rhonda Foxx)

A bill to boost Wisconsin’s nuclear power passed the State Assembly with bipartisan support in January.

The bill would have given tax credits for nuclear energy companies that lasted up to 20 years and essentially worked by lowering their tax burdens.

That bill did not get a floor vote in the State Senate before the end of the session, so it’ll need to be reintroduced next year.