The Sconi

A federal report this month is highlighting two Wisconsin nuclear power plant sites—one operating, one shut down—as attractive locations for new nuclear electric generating plants.

Department of Energy (DOE) researchers evaluated 54 operating nuclear power plants nationwide and another 11 recently retired plants as potential sites for new reactors. Such sites would be “ideal places to start building new reactors,” a DOE statement noted, because “communities surrounding these plants already support nuclear energy” and the necessary infrastructure to connect a plant to the power transmission grid is already in place.

The report does not specifically name either Wisconsin site or most sites in other states. However, Wisconsin has one currently operating nuclear power plant, Point Beach Nuclear Plant, located nine miles north of Two Rivers, and one closed but intact plant, Kewaunee Power Station, about four miles north of that.

Point Beach has two reactors and can produce approximately 1,200 megawatts of electricity, supplying about 16% of the power used in Wisconsin. Kewaunee had about half that capacity with one reactor before it was closed in 2013.

Nuclear power appears to be receiving renewed attention. In Michigan, a nuclear power plant that closed in 2022 may be restarted after the state’s Democratic governor reversed course a month before the shutdown and began supporting continued use for the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station. The plant’s owner secured a $1.5 billion federal loan for recommissioning costs and found a customer for the power.

Meanwhile, the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), which shifts electricity between utilities in the upper Midwest to meet demand, warned this summer that the region’s power supply could fall short by 1 to 3.7 gigawatts next summer due to member utilities shutting down large coal-fired power plants while adding generating capacity from intermittent sources such as wind turbines and solar panels. Wisconsin utilities have delayed plans to close coal-fired plants amid looming shortages.

The DOE report identified 20 existing nuclear plants where operators had canceled plans for more generating capacity or sought Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing for new reactors. It also listed a total of 41 plants with capacity either for a large “advanced” reactor like those recently operational in Georgia or smaller “advanced” reactors similar in size to each of Point Beach’s existing units. The report indicates that either Wisconsin site could accommodate either size.

The authors calculate that if all sites' potential were utilized, it could add up to 95 gigawatts of generating capacity nationwide—about 80 times Point Beach's current capacity. The report suggests that Wisconsin could triple its nuclear-powered electric output by adding reactors at both sites.

A third much smaller nuclear power plant—the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor near Genoa—was closed in 1987 and its equipment entirely removed; it did not figure into the DOE report.

The analysis also considered coal-fired power plant sites with infrastructure capable of hosting new nuclear plants; none were located in Wisconsin.

This evaluation involves only conventional reactors such as the Westinghouse AP1000 design; "advanced" refers to evolutionary design changes. The analysis did not include "small modular reactors," which are newly certified by federal regulators but not yet commercially deployed. Dairyland Power Cooperative based in La Crosse has separately expressed interest in using small modular reactors in Wisconsin.

While offering no federal funding or promise of regulatory pathways or commitments to new nuclear plants, the report signals official interest in nuclear power's potential as an electricity source—one emitting no carbon dioxide while producing more reliable power than wind turbines or solar panels can offer. Michael Goff, acting assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, highlighted this study alongside an online tool aimed at reducing capital costs for building nuclear facilities.

Patrick McIlheran is Director of Policy at the Badger Institute.

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