The Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities voted 9-2 to send a bill easing restrictions on new nuclear power reactors to the Assembly Tuesday. According to opponents of Assembly Bill 555, the move would encourage the federal government to store high-level nuclear waste near the Wolf River in northeastern Wisconsin.
AB 555 would lift Wisconsin regulations requiring the Public Service Commission to make two findings before approving the construction of a reactor-that waste could be adequately disposed, and that it would be economically advantageous for those buying energy.
Rep. Ann Nischke, R-Waukesha, voted to send AB 555 to debate. Nischke said she supports the bill because nuclear power is a clean source of energy that helps allay energy shortages in Wisconsin.
\We need a dependable, broad cross-section of types of energy,"" Nischke said.
Nuclear power currently accounts for 22 percent of Wisconsin energy generation, according to the Division of Energy.
Rep. Dan Schooff, D-Beloit, voted against sending AB 555 out of committee, calling current regulations ""common-sense laws"" and suggested that the bill would never pass.
The committee chamber was also packed with environmentalists attempting to sway the representatives' votes. Madison resident Fawn Houck held up signs with anti-nuclear slogans, but was told by staff workers during the meeting to put them away.
""We've worked very hard to bring a measure of sanity to this legislation,"" Houck said after the vote. ""It hasn't been proven that a reactor can dispose of waste in a way that's completely safe for future generations.""
Many of the bill's detractors reconvened in the Capitol basement after the vote to discuss a course of action and to plan a ""Lobby Day"" Feb. 24. Among those present was Clean Wisconsin Local Issues Coordinator Claire Schmidt.
According to Schmidt, the Wolf River Batholith is highest on the federal government's list of possible high-level waste repositories east of the Mississippi River. The federal government is expected to ask for another repository in 2007-and if AB 555 passes, Wisconsin will be a prime target, Schmidt said.
""They're going to go back to the list, and they're going to say, 'Oh look, Wisconsin just passed this law that makes it really, really easy to build new nuclear power plants in the state,'"" she said.
Schmidt's response was a call to action.
""We need to make this as public and loud and controversial as possible,"" Schmidt told fellow environmentalists. ""We're counting on Doyle to veto this.\
