State Representatives Joey Andrews and Pauline Wendzel are part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposing legislation grow the nuclear energy industry in Michigan.
Andrews tells us the bills came about as a result of the ongoing effort to restart the Palisades plant. That got him talking with a colleague.
“We’re about to do this big thing, turning back on a nuclear plant that’s been decommissioning,” Andrews said. “It’s going to be a first in the nation, and for what they’re doing out there, really a sort of a world-leading event. Couple in the small modular reactors that they’ve been talking about putting in out there, and we had this thought that this is a real opportunity for Michigan.”
The package of legislation includes several bills.
“The first bill in the package defines advanced reactors. So, that’s sort of like the small modular reactor technology, that sort of thing. Illinois took a stab at this last year, and by all accounts from the industry, they got it wrong. So we figured, okay, this is an opportunity to learn from Illinois’ mistakes and try to get it right.”
Other bills would create tax credits for universities training workers in the nuclear sector, tax credits for workers who stay in or come to Michigan to work in the nuclear industry, and tax credits for the manufacture of small modular nuclear reactors. That last credit would be created under Wendzel’s bill.
Andrews says as an emissions-free source of power, nuclear energy should be encouraged in the state while it pursues a greener future.
