HOUSE MEMORIAL 73

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

William "Bill" R. Rehm

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE RADIOACTIVE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS COMMITTEE AND THE INTERIM LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE DEALING WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ISSUES TO STUDY THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN THE FOUR CORNERS AREA.

 

     WHEREAS, nuclear power has the advantages of meeting decarbonization goals, bolstering electrical power grid reliability and providing jobs and economic benefits; and

     WHEREAS, nuclear energy produces more than one-half of the nation's emissions-free electricity and provides a constant source of power to an electrical power grid; and

     WHEREAS, the nuclear industry supports almost five hundred thousand jobs in the United States and contributes an estimated sixty billion dollars ($60,000,000,000) to the nation's gross domestic product; and

     WHEREAS, nuclear power plants can employ up to seven hundred workers with salaries that are thirty percent higher than the local average; and

     WHEREAS, there is a surge of interest in the development of nuclear energy in the United States, as evidenced by the more than one hundred nuclear power-related bills introduced by state legislatures this year; and

     WHEREAS, small modular reactors, which are currently under development, have added benefits over traditional nuclear power plants, such as a relatively small physical footprint, reduced capital investment, the ability to be sited in locations not possible for larger nuclear plants and provisions for incremental power additions; and

     WHEREAS, developing nuclear energy has the benefit of accessing federal dollars from programs seeking to incentivize nuclear power, including from the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and accessing tax credits for nuclear energy production and the siting of a nuclear power plant on a brownfield site, former coalfield site or former coal plant; and

     WHEREAS, the Four Corners area could support the development of nuclear power because there is access to water, there are no natural disasters and uranium is available in the region;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the radioactive and hazardous materials committee and the interim legislative committee dealing with science and technology issues be requested to study the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Four Corners area during the 2023 interim; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the radioactive and hazardous materials committee and the interim legislative committee dealing with science and technology issues no later than June 1, 2023.

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