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August 14, 2024

Will Nuclear Power Return to Colorado?

City Cast Denver

Will Nuclear Power Return to Colorado?

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In the super-charged partisan atmosphere of an election year, one contentious issue has emerged as a beacon of bipartisanship: Nuclear power. Both Republicans and Democrats backed Denver congresswoman Diana DeGette’s bill facilitating the construction of new reactors with cutting-edge designs, and last month President Biden signed it into law. But today’s nuclear cheerleaders could learn something from the past — so we are sharing a short audio documentary that our producer Paul Karolyi created about Colorado’s first and still only nuclear power plant, Fort St. Vrain, back in 2019.

This audio documentary originally aired on the podcast Range & Slope and an abbreviated version aired on Colorado Public Radio on August 29, 2019. The song featured at the end of this story is an original composition by Jesse Wooten of Creekbed

Paul also recommends this recent article about the current debate over bringing nuclear power back to Colorado from Allen Best at the local energy blog Big Pivots. Even if Colorado does build a new reactor or convert an old coal plant to nuclear, we wouldn’t be the first state to test out a next-gen nuclear reactor. Billionaire Bill Gates was in Wyoming in June to break ground on a new reactor being built by TerraPower.

Do you know any crazy fun facts about Colorado produce? We’re working on an episode about Olathe sweet corn, Palisade peaches, Rocky Ford melons, and Pueblo chiles, and we need your help! Text or leave us a voicemail with your name, neighborhood, and something people should know about Colorado’s favorite produce, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418‬

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