Once the scourge of environmentalists for its radioactive waste, nuclear power is now “clean” in North Carolina.
At least that’s the view of state law after both chambers of the General Assembly on Tuesday overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of energy-related legislation passed in September.
The designation sets the stage for Duke Energy’s plan to make its Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County the first new nuclear power plant in the state since 1987, and rides a resurgent interest in atomic energy as a consistent generator of emissions-free electricity regardless of how hard the wind blows and when the sun shines.
“You can’t get a more reliable, cleaner, low-carbon-producing energy source than nuclear,” Republican Rep. Dean Arp of Union County argued Tuesday during debate before the override vote.
Nuclear plants don’t produce heat-trapping pollution that contributes to climate change the way those that burn fossil fuels do. But emissions shouldn’t be the exclusive measuring stick for the environmental impact of energy generation, argued Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat.
Energy News Beat