Bill would let Umatilla County voters decide on small modular reactor demonstration; tribes and environmental groups oppose

House Bill 2,410 drew an extended informational hearing Feb. 27 in the House Climate, Energy and Environment Committee after the Oregon Department of Energy briefed lawmakers on the state's nuclear history and regulatory context.

The measure would allow the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) to issue a site certificate for a small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration project within Umatilla County if EFSC finds specified criteria are met, require ODOE and partners to prepare a report on SMR demonstration projects, establish the Umatilla County SMR Demonstration Project Report Fund and refer the measure to the voters of Umatilla County for approval; if approved by a majority of registered Umatilla County voters the act would take effect.

Max Woods, assistant director for nuclear safety and energy security at the Oregon Department of Energy, told the committee that Oregon’s current regulatory posture traces to Measure 7 (1980), which requires a federally approved permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel before new plants can be approved…