Group to study locating nuclear reactors in Nebraska
By Fred Knapp 
, Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
1 de Diciembre de 2025 a las 16:00 ·
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Three Nebraska electric utilities and one from Oklahoma say they’re going to study the feasibility of building new nuclear reactors in Nebraska.
The Nebraska and Omaha Public Power Districts, Lincoln Electric System and the Grand River Dam Authority of Oklahoma announced Monday they’ve agreed to create the Great Plains New Nuclear Consortium to explore deploying 1,000 to 2,000 megawatts of new nuclear generation in Nebraska.
The group noted utilities across the country are facing rising demand and changing reliability standards. It said working together would allow them to share expertise and reduce costs.
The Nebraska Public Power District is already studying where new nuclear reactors could be located. In a recent interview, NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent discussed alternatives to current generation.
“The decision at some point with any resource is, is the alternative more economic to generate electricity? Whatever that alternative might be, maybe it's new nuclear, small modular nuclear, whatever, versus continuing to invest in the existing resource,” Kent said.
Kent said NPPD will identify two to four sites early next year. The new consortium says it will use that study in its planning, but each utility can also develop projects on their own.
NPPD currently operates Nebraska’s only nuclear power plant -- Cooper Station near Brownville. OPPD closed Nebraska’s other nuclear generating station, at Fort Calhoun, in 2016, citing low natural gas prices and lower energy consumption in its decision.
Since then, demand for electricity has risen sharply, fueled in large part by data centers and artificial intelligence.
Supporters of new, small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) assert they represent a way to generate more electricity without producing the carbon dioxide that comes from burning fossil fuels and exacerbates climate change. They also downplay concerns about nuclear waste disposal that have accompanied the previous generation of nuclear plants. Others dispute this perspective.