WITH $8 billion in federal government subsidies at stake, applications have been pouring in to secure new sites for nuclear power plants. Most of the applications have been for locations in the south.
In the ’80s, nuclear energy had fallen out of favor after a couple of incidents. But the government is hoping that subsidies will spur on nuclear energy again in an attempt to reduce our reliance on foreign energy sources.
The horse race is on and we need to be asking: Does Kansas have a horse in the race?
Wolf Creek and nuclear energy have been part of our life in this part of Kansas for more than 21 years.
But with the Wolf Creek plant aging, it makes sense to start lobbying to put a new plant near the existing one.
The Kansas House has proposed legislation that would provide property tax relief if a new nuclear plant is built near Wolf Creek. This is a good first step and we hopeful it will be passed.
But with this large amount of federal money available to encourage construction of new nuclear plants, we hope our state agencies, economic development organizations and power utilities are aggressively working together to get Kansas its share of that federal money.
Wolf Creek has been a tremendous benefit to Coffey County, Lyon County and the state. We want to make sure we don’t miss out on this opportunity to bring jobs and economic vitality to our area.
Christopher White Walker
Editor & Publisher