Oregon committee hears wide-ranging testimony on small modular reactors, Measure 7 and three bills to lift the nuclear moratorium

The Oregon Senate Committee on Energy and Environment held an informational session and a public hearing on March 5 that examined small modular reactors (SMRs), nuclear safety and waste policy, and three related bills: Senate Bill 215, Senate Bill 216 and Senate Bill 635. Committee members and stakeholders debated whether the state should remove or refer to voters the 1980 restriction that bars approval of a new nuclear power plant until a national permanent disposal location for spent fuel exists and (if that condition were met) requires statewide voter approval.

State and industry presenters described Oregon’s legal limits on new nuclear projects and outlined the national regulatory and technological context. Max Woods, assistant director at the Oregon Department of Energy (ODO), reviewed Oregon’s current statutes and history: he said Oregon voters approved Measure 7 in 1980, which requires a national permanent disposal site for spent nuclear fuel before a new plant could be approved and — even then — would require statewide voter approval. Woods also noted that Oregon is within the emergency‑planning zone for the Columbia Generating Station, the region’s only operating commercial reactor located in Washington state, which he said provides roughly "3% of the…