Maine
Opinion: Let’s keep the door closed to nuclear energy in Maine
Several bills pending in Augusta are aimed at quietly reviving nuclear power in the state. This follows a national trend to paint nuclear as “clean,” “renewable” and essential — a trend promoted by politicians, more than 30 state legislatures, TikTok influencers, one well-known documentary filmmaker (shame on you, Oliver Stone) and a highly sophisticated, multi-front nuclear industry campaign.
One bill (L.D. 342, sponsored by Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport) would shove nuclear energy into Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). It does not include nuclear in its explicit list of renewable energy sources.
Nuclear energy is not renewable. A reactor’s fuel rods must be replaced on average every three years and 95% of uranium used comes from Canada or Kazakhstan.
Putting nukes on that list may sound innocuous, but RPS guides Maine’s energy policy, strategy and subsidies. The bill is the proverbial “foot in the door” and risks wasting state money that could be used on real renewable energy sources.
A public hearing on L.D. 342 before the Joint Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Feb. 13, in Room 211 of the Cross Building.
Also to be reviewed at that public hearing is another bill sponsored by Rep. Paul (L.D. 343) that would order the Public Utilities Commission to actively investigate small modular reactors. These reactors are still in the design stage, but basically are the same as older mega reactors, including generating radioactive waste. Their development is widely backed by tech titans who contend that artificial intelligence requires massive amounts of electricity, a claim challenged recently by Chinese AI application DeepSeek.
Home rule is challenged in yet another “foot-in-the-door” pro-nuclear bill. It would prohibit a community’s right to veto construction of a nuclear facility in its backyard. Perhaps this bill is intended to lay the groundwork to revive the 1980s proposal for a permanent radioactive waste facility at the bottom of Sebago Lake? That was a bad idea killed, fortunately, by local — as well as statewide — opposition.
By the way, there still are no permanent disposal facilities for the nation’s more than 90,000 metric tons of nuke-generated radioactive waste. It is held — under guard, at great expense and “temporarily” — in Wiscasset and about 100 other sites around the nation.
Maine, at least since the Wiscasset nuke shutdown in 1996, has resisted nuclear energy. Instead, tapping organizations and individuals across the state, it has developed a robust climate action plan for true renewable energy. Goals are set: 100% renewable by 2050. Progress is significant.
Let’s not let a raft of “foot-in-the-door” bills detour Maine from that path.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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