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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.
Award Recipient Photos
Charles E. Boardman
Robin P. Gardner
Mikey Brady-Raap
University of Wisconsin - Madison (Best Section)Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Best Section)
Lisa M. Marshall
Pietro V. (Pete) Domenici
Small Local SectionsWashington, DC (Best Membership)Virginia (Best Meetings and Programs)Trinity (Best Public Information and Education, Best Section Management)Large Local SectionsIdaho (Best Overall)
Alexey Soldatov
Louis K. Mansur
Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute
Donna Jacobs
Richard Sanchez
Candace C. DavisonJulie G. EzoldAngelina S. HowardAndrew C. KleinPaul J. TurinskyLumin Wang
Rolf L. Zeisler
Oliver D. Kingsley, Jr.
Calvin M. Hopper
GraduateUniversity of TennesseeBrenden Mervin, John Brittingham, David Debo, Peter FannoUndergraduateUniversity of California-BerkeleyRada Hong, Steve Huber, Kenneth Lee, Patrick Purcell, Sahak Margossian, John-David SeeligUniversity of FloridaBadal Juneja, Jellieth Cardona, Daniel Long, Matthew MarzanoUniversity of TennesseeJohnathan Chavers, Patrick Brukiewa, Addie Chinn, Matthew Cook, Dominick Cooper
Mujid S. Kazimi
Riccardo BettiEdward I. Moses
Shunsuke Kondo
Fort Calhoun StationSouth Texas Project
Amir Shahkarami Exelon
Edward W. Larsen
A. Nichole Ellis
Harold R. Denton
