NEIS ACTION ALERT: YOU have 14 days to help stop new nuclear power plants from coming to Illinois!!

Call your State Rep before April 18th, urging opposition to SB0076, a bill that repeals Illinois nuclear reactor construction moratorium

On March 30^th  the Illinois Senate voted 39-13 to repeal the Illinois 1987 nuclear construction moratorium.  The bill SB76 now returns to the Illinois House for a vote, sometime after April 18^th.

It is now up to you and us to prevent new reactors from being built in Illinois.  We have 14 days to get the job done.

This moratorium was enacted in 1987 and has insured that Illinois will not become the de facto radioactive waste dump for the nation, since Illinois nukes have generated the most high-level radioactive waste (11,000+ tons to date).

Make no mistake – this is the first step necessary for the nuclear industry to build their proposed “small modular nuclear reactors” (SMNRs), presumably at the sites of retiring coal plants and mines.  More nuclear reactors of any kind will mean – more radioactive waste, more bailouts, more rate hikes, continued accident threat, and LESS renewable energy and efficiency.

Time is of the essence.  You need to act by Sunday April 16th THE LATEST.  Pro-nuclear lobbyists are already crowing that they have the votes to pass the bill.  That leaves it up to YOU to make the difference, and send them home crying.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:   PLENTY!!

• • Contact your state Representative  by Tuesday April 18th, urging them to oppose SB76 when it comes over from the Senate.  Find who yours is and get contact info by clicking this link, and following the instructions.

• Be polite, but assertive: Let them know this is extremely important  to you, and that an incorrect vote on their part will not be taken kindly.
• Write Governor Pritzker, asking him to VETO any legislation that would repeal the construction moratorium or promote new nuclear plants for Illinois.
• Download the attached petition, get it filled out, and return to NEIS by April 16^th, either by mail, or scanned e-mail. We will use the results at a press event we will schedule around that time.
• Write short letters to the editors TODAY: Contact your local papers, and put in a short, 2-3 line let-ed in opposition to more reactors and radioactive waste in Illinois. (use background materials below as you need to).

BACKGROUND:

• NUCLEAR ILLINOIS: Illinois has more reactors and high-level radioactive waste than any other state. 11 operating reactors; 3 closed/decommissioned. To date, all of these reactors have created over 11,000 tons of highly radioactive and dangerous “spent-fuel” wastes, currently stored onsite at the reactors.
• According to law, the Federal Government was supposed to have created a permanent disposal repository for the spent-fuel by 1997. It failed to do so; therefore all spent-fuel is being stored at reactor sites until a disposal facility is operating.
• In 1987 environmental groups succeeded in passing a common-sense law regarding radioactive wastes, stating that Illinois won’t allow building more waste-producing reactors until the Federal Government builds and operates a disposal place to send radioactive waste to. That moratorium law remains in effect, and currently applies to Exelon/Constellation’s commercial power reactors.
• The potential implications of this repeal are numerous and all negative:
  • The current Illinois reactors are declared so uncompetitive by Exelon/Constellation (the new Exelon “spin-off” company) that they have required over $3.0 BILLION in ratepayer-funded bailout guarantees from the State over the past 5 years. If more are built, they too will likely be deemed uncompetitive and require future bailouts.
  • This attempted repeal is being done with the intention of promoting and building “small modular nuclear reactors,” (SMNRs) which will produce even more waste with no disposal site for radioactive wastes available.
  • SMNRs would compete for market share and transmission access with the renewable energy projects mandated in the 2021 CEJA legislation, thus thwarting achievement of the CEJA goal of 100% renewables by 2050.
  • SMNRs do not even exist yet, and will not be available at commercial scale until the 2030s at best, making the moratorium repeal illogical and premature since they too will add to the waste burden; and are a useless choice to combat the climate crisis.
  • If SMNRs get fast-tracked licensed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), they could conceivably be built at existing reactor sites, potentially by-passing critically important environmental reviews required for the existing reactors; or sites of retiring coal/gas plants, throwing a lifeline to the fossil fuel industry. This is a potential safety threat to reactor communities, and the State as a whole.  And if they too become uneconomic, they would be candidates for even more ratepayer funded bailouts.
• Legislators should oppose the repeal of the 1987 Nuclear Construction Moratorium and the building of new nuclear reactors in Illinois, UNTIL such time as the renewable energy goals expressed in CEJA are first completed. In addition the state should prioritize funding and efforts towards more energy efficiency, developing energy storage, and improving the transmission system.

Please contact us at NEIS for more information.

Thanks in advance for your action!