Thanks to new technology and federal incentives, nuclear power could make a comeback in western Wisconsin, according to a report from Wisconsin Public Radio.
The La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative is collaborating with Applied Atomics, which builds and operates small modular nuclear reactors, to study nuclear power at the site of Wisconsin’s first nuclear power plant in the Vernon County village of Genoa.
A new nuclear plant would serve as a carbon-free alternative to Dairyland Power’s existing coal-fired power plant and would complement its solar and wind projects.
Grover Hettel, executive vice president for Dairyland Power, told WPR that federal grants and low-interest loans have convinced the company to evaluate the cost effectiveness of modular reactors that operate at a smaller scale than past nuclear power plants.
