No Nuclear “Study”

Chair Lively, Vice Chair Gamba, Vice Chair Levy, and members of the Oregon House climate, energy and environment Committee:

I am urging you to vote no on HB 4060, the nuclear “study” bill. 

This “study” bill is not about an honest look at the pros and cons of nuclear power. It’s a vehicle for the nuclear industry and their Big Tech backers to get a foothold in Oregon and lay the groundwork to come back in future sessions with more proposals like those in 2025 to exempt Umatilla County from our statewide moratorium on new nuclear reactors, or to dismantle the moratorium itself. 

Concerns about the bill include:

• Private and federal funding would pay for the study. This opens the door for private funders with a financial interest in nuclear projects — like big tech, nuclear corporations, and the nuclear safety-slashing Trump administration — to pay for the study they want, not a study we can trust.
• Affected communities are left out. Shutting meaningful community input out of the process will not create a robust and trustworthy study.
• Federal nuclear safeguards are being thrown out the window. In recent weeks, the federal government has accelerated its efforts at destroying national safety standards for nuclear development in the U.S. This includes secretly rewriting nuclear safety rules with industry involvement, exempting new nuclear projects from National Environmental Policy Act rules, and more. The federal government’s recent actions prompted Washington legislators to stop a nuclear “study” bill, and Oregon should follow their lead. We must protect ourselves.

Please vote no on HB 4060 and Keep Oregon Nuclear-Free.