1-15-16 wisconsin environmental group says lifting ban on new nuclear power plants doesn’t make economic sense

An attorney for a Wisconsin environmental group says a bill that would lift Wisconsin’s ban on new nuclear power plants doesn’t make sense.   Right now, state regulators can’t approve a new nuclear power plant unless a federal facility for storing nuclear waste nationwide exists and such a plant wouldn’t burden ratepayers.  The bill would erase the storage facility and ratepayer clauses from state law.  Clean Wisconsin general counsel Katie Nikola says building a nuclear plant isn’t smart from an environmental and economic standpoint.  “Not at all.  Its certainly not economical to build new nuclear power plants.  There are only a couple being built anywhere in the United States right now,”  Nikola told AM 1170 WFDL’s Between the Lines program.   Nikola says she doesn’t buy the argument that nuclear power is an affordable option as the state faces new federal rules on greenhouse gas emissions.