Pueblo County Commissioners hold town hall about the possibility of nuclear power taking over coal plant

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO)- It's something that's been on the minds of folks in Pueblo County for years. What's going to be next for the Comanche Three Power Plant once it shuts down in 2031?

"We as a community need to really look broader and think about how we're going to replace that tax base, how we're going to replace those jobs," said Daneya Esgar, Pueblo County Commissioner.

Thursday evening, the Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center was packed from wall to wall. Union members in bright shirts, stood beside local residents to speak both for and against having a nuclear-powered replacement.

"Nuclear offers the complete opportunity to keep this community whole. Not only keep everybody working, but also bring more jobs and not even jobs, but careers, lifetime careers that are going to bring generational wealth differences to these areas," said Nathaniel Gutierrez, Financial Secretary, IBEW Local 111.

For those not familiar, nuclear power reactors generate heat to boil water and produce pressurized steam. The steam is then routed to large turbines, to produce electricity, much like Comanche does right now, with coal.

As for the drawbacks, it results in depleted fuel that stays radioactive for years and in very rare instances there have been mishaps that threaten surrounding communities. For those reasons, the idea of going nuclear is controversial and some who live right down the road from Comanche worry about the toll it could take on their safety and their property values.

"Every time there's something new and exciting on the board, everybody jumps on it. and then years later, we realize just how damaging in that it is," said Wendi Kern, Pueblo County Resident.

The plant proposal and those public concerns will now be passed on to the Public Utilities Commission. That entity will eventually determine if the nuclear conversation continues, according to Esgar.