State lawmakers are advancing further this year down a path toward possibly using nuclear power to make electricity in Hawaii.
Two Senate committees this month have pushed forward a bill to establish a task force led by the state’s chief energy officer to study the feasibility of using advanced nuclear power technologies as part of achieving Hawaii’s clean energy goals.
Mark Glick, director of the Hawaii State Energy Office and chief energy officer, advised lawmakers that such an endeavor would be premature because no such commercially viable technology that could suit Hawaii exists yet.
This technology, advanced Small Modular Reactors, is something the U.S. Department of Energy has identified as a safe, clean and affordable nuclear power option goal, according to Glick, who also said in written testimony on Senate Bill 1588 that light water- cooled SMRs may initially be deployed around 2030 at a price that has yet to be determined.
“The formation of a nuclear energy task force may be a number of years premature, given the current lack of cost, management of nuclear waste, production and safety information on SMRs,” Glick wrote. “Therefore, HSEO requests that the creation of a nuclear task force be set aside until commercial SMR units have been installed elsewhere, and operational data, installation cost, and waste management systems have been developed and can be evaluated for applicability in Hawaii.”
Glick’s testimony did not sway the Senate Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, whose chair, Sen. Glenn Wakai, introduced the bill. Committee members voted 5-0 on Feb. 4 to advance the bill.
On Wednesday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee voted 13-0 with no discussion to propel the bill ahead for consideration by the full Senate.
If the 25-member Senate passes SB 1588, it would be up for consideration in the 51-member House of Representatives, where 10 members have introduced a duplicate bill. This measure, House Bill 558, has not been taken up for public hearings by any House committees.
In 2024, two different bills were introduced in the House in an effort to advance the possibility of developing a nuclear power plant in Hawaii, but neither received a hearing.
One of the 2024 bills, HB 1516, was introduced by Rep. Cory Chun (D, Pearl City-Waipahu-Waikele) and proposed to establish a commission within the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to study the potential benefits of nuclear energy in Hawaii.
The other 2024 bill, HB 1741, was introduced by five Republican House members led by Rep. Elijah Pierick (R, Royal Kunia-Waipahu- Honouliuli). This measure proposed to repeal a section of Hawaii’s Constitution that requires two-thirds votes in both the House and Senate to allow construction of nuclear fission power plants in the state.
Wakai (D, Kalihi-Salt Lake-Pearl Harbor) said during the Feb. 4 committee hearing that there may be more public acceptance of nuclear power in Hawaii today given technology advancements.
“On a national level, the rest of the United States — the Continent — is actually going more nuclear where 20% of this country is powered by nuclear,” he said. “And nuclear is going small modular reactors — no longer the Chernobyl, Fukushima, Three Mile Island humongous campus and footprint. It’s on a container that you can wheel around.
“The technology is dramatically different today than it was in 1978 when we put in this constitutional provision,” Wakai continued.
Still, there is local public fear of horrendous accidents like ones that happened at the three nuclear plants in Russia, Japan and Pennsylvania mentioned by Wakai.
“The Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear power plant disasters all have proven that nuclear power is not safe, not clean, and not cheap,” Dave Muliniix, co-founder of Greenpeace Hawaii, said during the Feb. 4 committee hearing.
Sherry Pollack, co-founder of 350 Hawaii, a climate welfare organization, said SB 1588 could pose a serious harm to the health and environment of Hawaii.
“Nuclear energy has no place in Hawaii’s clean energy future,” she said at the Feb. 4 hearing.
Wakai emphasized that the bill does not promote nuclear power, but only would direct a task force to study its feasibility.
Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe- Iroquois Point) said all potential options should be studied as part of trying to reduce the cost of electricity for Hawaii residents, who pay the highest rates in the nation due to still-dominant use of imported oil to generate power.
“I’ll be voting with a hard yes,” he said during the hearing, “because we need to put everything in the tool chest.”
Supportive testimony on the bill was less than opposing testimony, but included encouragement from the Minnesota-based organization Generation Atomic, which commended what it called a forward- looking approach to considering something that could be the next generation of “a powerful tool for reducing carbon emissions while providing reliable, emission- free, and affordable baseload power.”
Keith Neal, policy lead for Sustainable Energy Hawai‘i, said in written testimony that the state has made good progress deploying renewable energy using the sun, wind, battery storage and geothermal sources.
“However, a broader, more comprehensive approach that will provide a reliable, affordable, and secure energy future is needed, especially considering the power required to electrify the transportation sector,” Neal said in support of the bill. “We cannot afford to leave options unexplored.”
Under the bill, other members of the task force would be the leaders, or a designee, of the state Department of Health and the Board of Land and Natural Resources as well as a nuclear energy expert appointed by the president of the University of Hawaii, a representative of the state Public Utilities Commission, a senator appointed by the president of the Senate and a House member appointed by the speaker of the House.
As chair, the chief energy officer also would invite three others to participate as members. Those members would be a U.S. Navy nuclear energy expert appointed by the Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations, a public utility representative appointed by the governor, and a nuclear energy or nuclear waste disposal expert appointed by the governor.
The bill gives the task force deadlines to provide the Legislature with an interim report before the end of this year followed by a final report by the end of 2026.
Too hot……nay.