There’s a growing sense that it’s time Wisconsin lifted what is
effectively a ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants.

“You cannot be honest about how to solve global warming without
including nuclear power,” state Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon,
said last week. He is part of a mostly Republican group of lawmakers
who introduced a bill last week (SB-340) that would lift the
moratorium on new plants, which has been in effect since 1983.

State Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay, shepherded a similar bill
through the Assembly last session, but the measure languished and died
without action in the state Senate. In the meantime, Gov. Jim Doyle’s
Global Warming Task Force included modifying the nuclear ban among its
recommendations. Legislation built around the Task Force’s work is due
to arrive next month, Soletski said Thursday.

“The Task Force produced a consensus agreement,” Soletski told us,
noting that Montgomery was a member of the group. “I think changing
the nuclear moratorium has a better chance of passing if we keep it
all together.”

A retired nuclear power plant worker, Soletski is in a unique position
to educate his fellow Democrats about the advances in that industry’s
safety and technology since 1983. With his party now the majority in
the Legislature, Soletski also is in a better position to understand
what it will take to get this measure passed by both houses and signed
by the governor.

As we work to wean ourselves from a dependence on fossil fuels,
renewable resources such as wind and solar power will play an
increasing role — but nuclear technology already is producing
electricity without filling the air with greenhouse gases.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the Point Beach
and Kewaunee plants together have a capacity to generate more than
1,600 megawatts of power — enough to supply electricity to roughly
800,000 homes.

The 17-turbine Rosiere Wind Farm, by comparison, generates a little
more than 11 megawatts, according to Renew Wisconsin.

Nuclear waste continues to present a challenge, but spent nuclear fuel
has been stored effectively for decades while a more permanent
solution is sought.

Meanwhile, the waste thrown into the atmosphere from fossil-fueled
plants is measured in the scores of tons.

Our unscientific online readers poll this week yielded nearly 71
percent in favor of lifting the moratorium. Soletski’s approach makes
the most sense for now — trying to pass one of the Task Force’s dozens
of recommendations as a separate bill might score political points but
is not likely to succeed.

Lifting the moratorium just makes more nuclear power possible; years
would pass before plans for a new nuclear plant would be
shovel-ready.

But if nuclear energy could lead to cleaner air — and it could — it
must be included in our mix of alternative fuels.