Huge victory in Illinois!

From Nuclear Energy Information Service: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has vetoed SB76, a bill that was introduced to repeal the long-standing 1987 Illinois nuclear construction moratorium. The bill had also been introduced as a not-so-subtle promotion for the so-called “next-generation” of nuclear reactors which nuclear advocates want to bring to Illinois.

“We are extremely grateful to the Governor for grasping the significance this bill had to thwart a renewable energy future,” notes David Kraft, Director of the Chicago-based Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), a 42-year old safe energy advocacy and nuclear power watchdog organization.

“Had it passed, this bill would not only have removed all prohibitions for generating even more high-level radioactive wastes with no disposal method in place (Illinois’ currently “hosts” ~11,000 tons of orphaned spent-reactor fuel), it would have opened the door to more nuclear reactors, which could have had devastating effects on the renewable energy goals championed in the 2021 Climate and Equity Jobs Act (CEJA),” Kraft observed.

SB76 was opposed by a number of Illinois environmental and social-justice organizations including Sierra Club, Illinois Environmental Council, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Eco-Justice Collaborative, Chicago Area Peace Action, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization, Greenpeace, Chicago Physicians for Social Responsibility, Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance, Stand Up Save Lives, and many others.

(Photo of JB Pritzker: Governor JB Pritzker website)