Twelve states currently have restrictions on the construction of new nuclear power facilities: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Minnesota has adopted an outright ban on the construction of new nuclear power facilities and New York has outlined a similar ban in a limited area of the state. Other states have set conditions on the construction of new nuclear power facilities. These conditions include requiring:
- the identification a demonstrable technology or a means for high level waste disposal or reprocessing (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine and Oregon);
- approval by the state Commissioner of Environmental Protection finding that the proposed method for disposal of radioactive waste material to be produced or generated by the facility will be safe (New Jersey);
- approval by the state legislature (Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont);
- voter approval (Maine, Massachusetts and Oregon).
However, these state restrictions are changing. In recent years, the following states have taken action to modify or repeal these statutes:
- Illinois: The state legislature passed S.B. 76 in 2023, which would have repealed the state’s law restricting the construction of new nuclear facilities in the state to allow for advanced reactors to be developed. However, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed the legislation. The legislature then successfully passed H.B. 2473, ending a 36-year-old moratorium on nuclear reactors in Illinois. The bill allows for small, modular nuclear reactors which produce less than 300 MW of power starting in January 2026.
- West Virginia: The state repealed its law restricting the construction of new nuclear facilities in the state by enacting S.B. 4 in 2022.
- Connecticut: The state established a narrow exemption to its restrictions on the development of new nuclear facilities in the state by enacting H.B. 5202 in 2022. The amendment stipulates that the state’s restrictions do not apply to the state’s existing nuclear power plant, the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, which could open the door to the development of new reactors at the site. S.B. 385 signed this last year reaffirms Millstone Station as an allowed site and requires the purchase of renewable power from Millstone if zero-carbon electricity contracts are deemed warranted.
- Montana: The state repealed its law restricting the construction of new nuclear facilities in the state by enacting H.B. 273 in 2021.
- Kentucky: The state repealed its law restricting the construction of new nuclear facilities in the state by enacting S.B. 11 in 2017.
- Wisconsin: The state repealed its law restricting the construction of new nuclear facilities in the state by enacting A.B. 384 in 2016.