Oregon lawmakers are considering softening a 45-year-old statewide ban to allow nuclear power in Umatilla County. The legislation has the backing of the county government, while tribal leaders are opposed.

House Bill 2410 received its first public hearing in front of the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment last week. Oregon voters effectively banned all new nuclear energy facilities in 1980, but the bill would create a carve out so that Umatilla County could start a small modular nuclear reactor pilot project.

State Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, is one of the bill’s chief sponsors, and although the legislation is mostly backed by Republicans, it’s picked up a couple of Democratic supporters. State Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, told the committee why she was backing the bill.

“With AI on our phones, that consumes an incredible amount of energy,” she said, “We need to make sure we have a clean way to address these long term energy needs.”

Testimony poured in from across Oregon and the Northwest, with both supporters and detractors making familiar arguments.

Proponents said small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, are a promising piece of technology that would allow utilities to harness a massive amount of reliable, low-carbon energy without the development costs that come with traditional reactors. They argued the smaller size of SMRs negates much of the meltdown risk associated with larger reactors, and waste they produce can be safely stored out of harm’s way. SMRs are being championed by Amazon, which wants to build several in southeastern Washington to power Eastern Oregon data centers.

Opponents of the bill said nuclear waste remains a real threat to public health and the environment, especially because the U.S. still doesn’t have a national repository for spent nuclear material. They added that SMRs are more wishful thinking than a proven technology, with previous projects coming in over budget and underperforming.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is one the bill’s opponents. Board of Trustees member Lisa Ganuelas pointed to the Hanford Site in southeast Washington, a former plutonium manufacturing facility that remains heavily polluted decades later.

“CTUIR knows from previous experience that nuclear waste is a burden that will be with us for millennia and unless and until a specific repository is selected, that it is almost certain that any newly generated nuclear waste will stay in Umatilla County and within CTUIR ceded lands indefinitely,” she said.

Cathy Sampson-Kruse, a CTUIR member and a longtime critic of nuclear energy, brought historical pictures of the tribes and said there was a long history of the tribal government not being involved in the decision making process.

“We hear the talk behind closed doors that do not consult us – tribes, treaties and the trust responsibilities,” she said. “It really disheartens us as a people.”

Other locals from Eastern Oregon wrote testimony opposing the bill over environmental and quality of life concerns. Pendleton resident Jennifer Abney name-checked Amazon in her opposition.

“I don’t want a nuclear plant in my backyard, nor Amazon using more of our water … Please listen to the voters,” she wrote. “An oligarch should not be able to bypass the law, nor should the counties.”