CARLTON (NBC 26) — It's a return to the Lakeshore years in the making. The Kewaunee Power plant is a nuclear reactor that has been closed for more than a decade, but there are plans to bring nuclear power back.
Learn about nuclear power's possible Kewaunee return:
The power plant closed back in 2013.
"I don't think it needed to happen but it's something that did happen,” said town of Carlton Chairman Dave Hardtke.
The plant is in Carlton, the hometown of Hardtke. He said the plant's owner at the time didn't believe it was profitable enough. The new owner, EnergySolutions, in a partnership with the WEC Energy Group, says it's time to bring nuclear power back.
EnergySolutions tells me the plan is to decommission the current plant and build new, planning for a reopening around the year 2038.
According to Hardtke, neighbors support the plan.
“Because they feel safe with it,” said Hardtke. “A lot of these people grew up with it. It has been here since the early 70's, it was being built while I was in high school."
EnergySolutions says perception has shifted and nuclear power is now seen as safe, reliable and an option to generate a lot of electricity 24/7 at a time when a need for energy is growing due to new technology. Hardtke says 200 to 300 people worked at the plant the first time around and 100 are working on deconstruction now.
"It's going to mean jobs and more income for the county itself,” said Hardtke.
Hardtke did say a concern of his is the loss of farmland to EnergySolutions, saying Ag is Kewaunee County's top employer.
EnergySolutions told me although they offered to buy small plots of land, the power plants revival will not negatively affect local farmers and their land.
