FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers are pushing to make the Commonwealth a leader in nuclear energy development. A proposal from state Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Benton, would establish a board tasked with handling nuclear energy issues and its development in the state.
Carroll said Senate Bill 198 embraces a multi-faceted energy sector to meet Kentucky’s power needs. He wants to continue supporting the coal industry but also make sure the state doesn’t fall behind in the nuclear energy boom in the near future.
Every year Kentucky mines millions of tons in coal, accounting for 75% of Kentucky’s electricity portfolio according to the state’s energy cabinet. But Carroll said trends are showing a need to find other sources of energy.
“We’re seeing coal production decrease, we’re seeing coal-fired furnaces shut down and we’re going to have to start looking for other sources of base load energy to power this country,” Carroll said.
Carroll wants to establish the Kentucky Nuclear Development Authority, a group of stakeholders tasked with the development of the state’s nuclear energy ecosystem. Carroll has long touted nuclear energy and lead the charge in overturning a 1984 moratorium on nuclear energy with a bill in 2017.
“Nuclear and what we’re trying to do with nuclear is in no way an indictment on the coal industry, natural gas or any other source of energy,” Carroll said.
About 20% of the state’s power is generated from natural gas. Carroll says the state would continue to use many forms of energy production. He says Kentucky is well positioned to be a leader on the nuclear front. Paducah was home to a uranium enrichment facility with waste still remaining on the site.
“They have a laser technology that will re-enrich the waste that sits in Paducah for nuclear fuel. Bill Gates says there’s enough fuel in Paducah today to fuel this country for 300 to 400 years,” Carroll said.
Rodney Andrews is the director of the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research. He says nuclear energy has a wide variety of benefits to the state.
“It includes manufacturing, fuel processing and, from my interest, the newer reactor types; small modular reactors can operate at very high temperatures, which allows us to make clean hydrogen, clean CO2 conversion,” Andrews said.
Some of the educational opportunities for nuclear energy development could include converting retired or at-risk coal plants into nuclear plants.
The bill will now be read to the full Senate and should pass favorably. Last year, Tennessee advanced investment and innovation in nuclear energy.