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Beyond Nuclear: The Bulletin

Join us today at 2 pm ET!

Lessons learned and best practices for transitioning economies

There’s still time to register for our upcoming webinar, Lessons learned and best practices for transitioning economies, taking place on January 21 from 2-3 p.m. ET. Join us for an enriching conversation with leaders from two regions facing similar challenges—one responding to the closure of coal-fired power plants and the other to the loss of the paper mill industry—as they share best practices and lessons learned from their communities’ economic recovery journeys, which can help support transition and diversification efforts in your community.

 

Welcome to news from the Nuclear Closure Communities Technical Assistance program

Helping communities that host a nuclear power plant better prepare and plan for a post-nuclear future

Whether you represent a community facing a nuclear power plant closure or just want to keep up with the latest updates, this monthly newsletter is for you. If you received this message from a friend or colleague, sign up here to join the mailing list and receive important information and resources carefully curated by the NCC TA team right in your inbox. 

In addition to this newsletter, to better position the municipalities and regions bracing for this dislocation, our team will be providing guidance and analysis, offering a set of tools, and building a supportive community of practice and events. Check out our informational webinar including information on the team, the kind of support that is available, and details about this new assistance program. Ask for assistance here >>

Photo by Daniel Rucci, Wiki Commons

Highlights of the month

• The End of the Nuclear Era: Nuclear Decommissioning and Its Economic Impacts on U.S. Counties: This paper examines the effects of nuclear decommissioning over time at the county‐level on measures of employment, income, and population. The analysis found that “nuclear decommissioning is associated with positive and statistically significant increases in employment and per capita income over time. Results suggest that nuclear decommissioning may actually be a positive force in regional economic development…”

• The Changing Energy Landscape and Its Impact on Economic Development in America: This report from IEDC’s Economic Development Research Partners takes stock of economic trends in relation to the energy sector and looks beyond the horizon toward America’s energy future. The Changing Energy Landscape is divided into four chapters focused on coal, nuclear, oil and natural gas, and renewable energy. 

• Podcast: The Future of Nuclear Host Communities: In this episode of Energy Policy Now, a podcast by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, Jennifer Stromsten from the Institute of Nuclear Host Communities and Saqib Rahim from E&E News discuss community efforts to navigate the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear station in southern Vermont. They also look at the impact that the ongoing storage of nuclear waste at the site is having on efforts to redevelop, and initiatives at the state and national level to give communities more say in the decommissioning process and, by extension, control over their path forward.

Keep reading & resources

• The National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), which is part of the consortium behind this newsletter, runs CEDS Central, where you can find the “CEDS Fundamentals” Webinar Tutorial. This tutorial provides an introduction to the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), discusses key elements of the CEDS, and covers information about engagement, implementation, and other resources to support your organization during the CEDS process. 

• When People and Money Leave (and the Plant Stays): Lessons Learned from the Closure of the Vermont Yankee Power Station is a summary of the “lessons learned” by the Tri-State Region team in the wake of the closure of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station located in Vernon, Vermont. While the discussion here relates specifically to the closure of a nuclear power station in a rural area, the lessons learned are applicable to any locale that will or could lose a major employer or a major source of local earned income/tax revenue. There are also lessons to be learned about a major employer whose site and physical plant present land use and orderly redevelopment questions including plant decommissioning, site restoration, the presence of hazardous materials, and complex regulatory frameworks.

• To explore the challenges and opportunities associated with power plant retirements, the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) led an assessment of the social and economic impacts of five power plants across six host communities in Minnesota, which you can read about  here. The University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business recently published a complementary economic modeling study on the impact of power plant closures on host communities, which you can find here >> 

If you missed or would like to revisit Socioeconomic Impacts from Nuclear Power Plant Closure and Decommissioning: Host Community Experiences, Best Practices and Recommendations by the Nuclear Decommissioning Collaborative—also one of the organizations behind this newsletter—you can find a summary and key findings of the report here >> 

 

News

Check out The Nuclear Decommissioning Collaborative’s regularly updated news board to keep up to date with nuclear decommissioning initiatives across the country. 

Upcoming events and opportunities

• Sign up for TODAY’s webinar "Lessons learned and best practices for transitioning economies" here >>

• Next week, SGA is convening an exciting group of experts, practitioners and policymakers for a three-day virtual Equity Summit where we'll be discussing how to elevate improving racial equity in smart growth work. Join us from January 26th-28th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST each day. Learn more and register here >>

 

To inquire about partnering with the team on behalf of your community, please fill out the contact form on SGA’s website.

This effort utilizes Federal funds under award ED20HDQ3030068 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the project team and do not necessarily reflect the views of EDA or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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