Maine hosted one nuclear power plant, Maine Yankee, between the years 1972 to 1996. This plant was near Wiscasset. The plant is now decommissioned, but the high-level nuclear waste material generated there is still stored in casks on the grounds, awaiting a permanent repository.
Sierra Club policy on nuclear energy precludes the building of any new nuclear power plants until there is a permanent solution for long-term nuclear waste storage. For the same reason, the Sierra Club also calls for currently operating nuclear plants to be shuttered after their NRC licenses expire. While some people see nuclear energy as a bridge to electrical energy generation by entirely renewable sources, high-level nuclear waste continues to pile up at US sites which are unsuitable for permanent storage. Sierra Club Maine opposes any new nuclear power facilities in the state.
Resources
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission description of high-level nuclear waste
- Sierra Club policy on nuclear power generation
- Sierra Club guidance document on the movement of high-level nuclear waste
- Maine Yankee power plant