State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

nuclear power

  • Fighting the Duane Arnold Energy Center Restart

    The Duane Arnold Energy Center was re-licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in December 2010, extending its operating license for 20 years to 2034. After the 2020 derecho damaged the plant, they didn’t reopen, and began the process of de-commissioning with intent to shut down. When a large contract with Google Energy, to purchase… Read more

  • Duane Arnold Energy Center Redux

    I was finding my way after university when the Duane Arnold Energy Center began operations on Feb. 1, 1975. I had other things on my mind in the pre-Three Mile Island, pre-Chernobyl, pre-Fukushima world of electricity generation. I was trying to start a life and it wasn’t going as well as I had hoped. I… Read more

  • Local voices matter in the conversation over nuclear power

    On June 18, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported the Iowa nuclear task force wrapped up its work, saying, “Task force members reiterated the importance of community education on the topic, noting that residents and lawmakers often have misperceptions about nuclear energy.” But what if community members are already well informed and still do not want… Read more

  • Iowa Nuclear Power Task Force to Report

    Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds created a 14-member nuclear energy task force in January by executive order. They finished their initial work this week and now its recommendations will go to the governor, state lawmakers, and state agencies. In her Jan. 5, 2026 press release, Reynolds said, “With our strong foundation in manufacturing and energy innovation,… Read more

  • Small Modular Reactors And Iowa

    A joke is circulating on the internet that SMR stands for Spending Money Recklessly. It isn’t funny because it is true, even if big money investors have a plan to recoup their investment in Small Modular Reactors with interest. Regular folks like me don’t want new nuclear power when renewable projects that include solar and… Read more

  • Nuclear Power In A Wind State

    If Iowa is a net exporter of electricity, why the push for new nuclear reactors? I get it. Duane Arnold Energy Center has infrastructure to add/renew generating capacity: connections to the electrical grid, access to water for cooling, and transportation in and out. Compared to the new Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, re-starting DAEC… Read more

  • Nuclear Energy Revisited

    On July 1, Interstate Power and Light Company, the parent company of Alliant Energy, filed an application to add 1,000 megawatts of wind energy “to help boost Iowa’s electric grid and further diversify its energy portfolio,” Olivia Cohen wrote in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The timing of the filing takes advantage of tax credits included… Read more

  • In Winter

    January and February are the best months to hunker down and write. I get outside almost every day to take a brisk walk along the state park trail. Some mornings the landscape looks like this. Then it’s back indoors and to work. Today we’ll experience ambient temperatures in the 40s. I decided to run the… Read more

  • Condition of the State

    “While my skepticism of the governor is substantial. These are things that merit consideration by the government we have.” Read more

  • Duane Arnold Redux

    Editor’s note: This is a letter to the editor of the Solon Economist in response to Caden Bell’s opinion saying the Duane Arnold Energy Center nuclear power plant should be reopened. I don’t understand the logic of reopening the Duane Arnold Energy Center because life is like a cartoon called The Simpsons. I’ve never seen… Read more