Future of energy will be considered in legislative session

As the harvest finishes and we enter the upcoming holiday season, senators remain hard at work preparing for the looming legislative session in January. One such topic I am investigating is the future of electrical generation in Nebraska. Currently, Nebraska Public Power District's energy generation resource mix consists of the following: 42.3% nuclear, 30.1% coal, 7.4% wind, 6.4% hydroelectric and 13.8% from all other sources, such as natural gas or purchase agreements. However, as market pressures increase on public power to transition away from fossil fuels to green energy sources, such as wind and solar, the legislature is considering how to ensure a reliable and cost-efficient electricity grid and assess the needs of the future while balancing these considerations with the environment.

I got the opportunity to tour two different places that rely on different energy sources: coal and nuclear. In Gillette, Wyoming, I toured mines and processing facilities for coal shipped to Gerald Gentleman Station in Sutherland. While the national usage of coal has declined from 52% in 1990 to 20% in 2022, Nebraska has ready access to Wyoming coal, which tends to release less sulfur and is better for the environment than coal found in other states. While coal is carbon intensive to extract, process and burn, it also provided a ready source of electricity during the 2021 winter storms which saw rolling power outages and Nebraska electricity diverted to other states to meet their energy demands.

To fulfill Nebraska's long-term energy generation needs, the legislature is exploring investments into nuclear technology as one possible alternative, which resulted in the creation of the LR178 Select Committee. Small modular nuclear reactors are nuclear reactors at a smaller scale, with the prospect of being able to be scaled up or down to meet energy demands.

SMRs also help power areas where larger plants are not needed. I see SMRs as a means to supplement existing energy sources and provide an additional source of reliable baseload generation for our electricity grid beyond what is currently provided by Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville.

Earlier this month, Senator Bostelman, Senator Sanders and I went to France to tour several nuclear facilities and learned about the refinement of uranium. As part of this tour, we examined the conversion and enrichment of uranium and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. With the uranium we use in nuclear reactors, most of the spent fuel (~95%) goes unused and sits idle in long-term storage. The French government, which has been investing in nuclear energy since the 1960s, has decades of experience in refining uranium and my trip showed many insights on how we can learn to improve our own refining.

The legislature is also looking into how nuclear technology has alternative uses other than just power generation. During the production of nuclear energy, different elements are created through the decay of uranium and these elements have medical, as well as other benefits. Called radioisotopes, one example is Strontium-90, which is used for the development of medical and agricultural research, remote weather stations and the treatment of bone tumors. Strontium-90 has other applications and nuclear reactions create other helpful radioisotopes.

Nuclear technology, as a long-term investment, has the potential to supplement fossil fuel and renewable energy while making sure that energy is reliable and affordable. While it could be close to six to eight years before the state makes new investments in SMRs or other nuclear technologies, our investigation lays the groundwork for the potential expansion of nuclear technology in this state.

A quick list of some of the other meetings and activities I have been able to attend so far includes: held a listening session in Macy with the Omaha Tribe as a part of the State Tribal Relations Committee, met with area school board members and administrators in Norfolk, visited with students and administrators at Randolph Public School, learned about gas and oil pipeline safety procedures, met with area county assessors and discussed nursing facilities with the director of the Northeast Nebraska Area Agency on Aging. Going forward, Senator Kauth's LB575, the Sports and Spaces Act, remains poised to be the topic of contention during the next session and a future newsletter will talk more about it.

You can contact me at any time; I always appreciate hearing from you. Call my Capitol office telephone number at 402-471-2801 or send email to [email protected]. My mailing address is: Senator Barry DeKay, District #40, P.O. Box 94604, State Capitol, Lincoln, NE 68509.