Senator hopes to pass new measure to lift Illinois' nuclear moratorium

An Illinois state senator hopes to advance a new measure that would delete language in Illinois state statute preventing new nuclear power plants located within the state.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker in August vetoed a similar measure.

"The bill is vetoed because the vague definitions in the bill, including the overly broad definition of advanced reactors, will open the door to the proliferation of large-scale nuclear reactors that are so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts," Pritzker said.

Now, if approved during the last week of the veto session, a new measure would allow for the state to build new small nuclear reactors.

State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, on Tuesday discussed a Senate amendment to House Bill 2473. She hopes the updated language will address some of the governor's concerns.

"This has been a long time coming," Rezin said. "This language is carefully crafted language based on the governor's veto message. It makes a lot of changes to the original Senate Bill 76 that lifted the ban in Illinois."

The changes in the language include more of a role for state government.

"It is my hope that this new bill will address the concerns of the governor by including a very specific and intentional definition of what constitutes new nuclear within our state," Rezin said. "Furthermore, it will include state-level oversight in addition to the already stringent oversight laid out by the federal government."

The measure was not voted on by the Senate committee, but Rezin hopes the bill will be able to be addressed before the end of this week's veto session.

"As a result of ongoing negotiations with the support of the Senate president, his team, and other stakeholders, we are in the process of finalizing the language for legislation that I believe will be voted on in the Senate this week," Rezin said.

The longer they wait, the further the state will fall behind other states, she said.

"We must act quickly to ensure that our state has the opportunity to take advantage of the amazing advancements in new nuclear technology that have occurred over the past couple of decades," Rezin said. "The longer we wait to end this moratorium, Illinois falls further behind the rest of the nation."

The moratorium to end nuclear power in Illinois was enacted in the 1980s.

The fall veto session ends Thursday.