Ayotte joins other New England governors in pro-nuclear push

Gov. Kelly Ayotte has joined the five other New England governors in saying they’ll keep the region’s two nuclear power plants running while exploring sites for next-generation reactors, if and when those technologies come to pass.

The statement follows Ayotte’s executive order last week creating a “nuclear energy roadmap” for the state and ordering officials to review regulatory, financial and market factors affecting nuclear deployment.

Similar moves are being taken by many state and national governments who want to bolster or expand nuclear power in the face of global uncertainty over oil and gas supplies, the push from data centers for more electricity and the need for greenhouse-gas-free power.

Several newer technologies of nuclear fission plants are under development. All of them split atoms to create heat that boils water and spins an electric turbine, as is done by Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and Millstone Station in Connecticut, but use different methods of heat control or different types of atomic fuel. None is yet commercially viable.

New England has four closed nuclear plants, the most recent being Pilgrim in Massachusetts.

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