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Getting back to yes: A local perspective on decommissioning, restart, and responsibility
For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.
In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.
Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.
2021
Imre Pázsit
2017
Dr. Nam Zin Cho
2016
Dr. Luiz Carlos LealDr. Mark L. Williams
2015
Kord S. Smith
2014
Elmer Lewis
2013
Augusto Gandini
2011
Nils G. Sjöstrand
2009
Edward W. Larsen
2005
Massimo Salvatores
2004
Richard N. Hwang
2003
Weston M. StaceyPaul J. Turinsky
2002
Noel R. Corngold
2001
Daniel G. Cacuci
2000
Michael M.R. Williams
1999
John J. Dorning
1998
Dr. Gerald C. Pomraning posthumouslyRafael B. Perez
1996
Pierre J. Benoist
1995
Ely M. Gelbard
1994
Raymond L. Murray
1993
Jules Horowitz
1992
Allan F. Henry
1991
Alvin M. Weinberg
1990
Eugene P. Wigner
