NextEra Energy has taken the first steps to open the Duane Arnold power plant, Iowa’s only nuclear power plant, by late 2028.

Duane Arnold operated in Palo, Iowa, from 1974 until 2020, when a derecho, or a series of severe windstorms, damaged the cooling towers. 

NextEra Energy filed notice with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late January to request a licensing change as “an important first step in establishing the regulatory pathway to restore the facility’s operating license and potentially restart plant operations as early as the end of 2028,” wrote NextEra Energy Spokesperson Bill Orlove in an email to The Daily Iowan. 

Orlove walked through different factors that must be considered for reopening the plant, including, but not limited to, restoring the plant systems, training staff, and securing a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

“The company is taking the necessary time to look at all aspects needed to make an informed decision about resuming operations at the facility,” he wrote.

Palo Mayor Eric Van Kerckhove  noticed from his observations that some local businesses were hurt by the plant closure in 2020. 

“As the traffic died off, some of our local businesses, restaurants, gas stations, that type of thing, their business slowed down,” he said. “We had a few residents that lived in Palo and worked at the nuclear plant, who have since found employment elsewhere and have moved out of the community.”

Kerckhove has noticed a good deal of excitement in the city from the potential reopening. Not only would a reopening bring more traffic to local businesses, but it could also halt NextEra’s aggressive push for land-based solar installations. 

NextEra has labeled the expansion as The Duane Arnold Solar projects, one and two.  Project one uses 316 acres of an 857-acre plot, while project two uses 815 acres of a 1,780-acre plot.

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“That caused quite a big stir; a lot of Palo and our surrounding communities are still pretty upset about those solar installations,” Kerckhove said. “The idea that the nuclear plant will start back up and we don’t have to worry about expanding solar in the future is a huge positive for the community.”

Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers clarified that while the potential opening brings many future possibilities, the county is still in the dark about the specifics. 

“Linn County has approved several utility-scale solar installations in Palo near the power plant.  What is unclear is how many megawatts the new plant will produce and to what extent the utility-scale solar arrays factor into the amount of power they will produce,” he wrote in an email to The DI.

He once again stressed that while NextEra has stated they would be open to restarting it, no decisive steps have been taken as of yet. 

“If they were to restart it, they would need to apply for a land use permit, and that would go through an extensive review process by our Planning and Zoning department,” he wrote.