MON AM News: PSC chair wants faster development of new nuclear technologies; Sensitive health data possibly exposed by Disability Rights Wisconsin, DHS reports

June 24, 2024

— Public Service Commission Chair Summer Strand says legislation that recently cleared the U.S. Senate will accelerate development of new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors.

Speaking last week during a WisPolitics luncheon in Madison, Strand said “there is a lot of really exciting innovation, research and development happening” within the nuclear technology space.

“If I had it my way, it would be happening faster and be more readily available,” she said Thursday, noting European countries are already making progress on small modular reactors.

These nuclear fission reactors are much smaller and easier to construct than traditional nuclear power plants. Their generating capacity is about one-third the size of these installations, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and they can be deployed for various uses including power generation and industrial applications.

La Crosse’s Dairyland Power Cooperative in 2022 announced it was partnering with Oregon-based NuScale Power to explore the potential deployment of small modular reactor technology in the co-op’s energy mix.

A co-op spokesperson on Friday said Dairyland is exploring various carbon-free power supply options, and believes nuclear energy will “play an essential role” in the energy transition as it helps maintain reliability while achieving carbon goals.

“Dairyland is maintaining a technology-neutral approach to our exploration of advanced nuclear technologies,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Our agreement with NuScale provided us an opportunity to assess — not commit to — their technology as one potential option.”

The U.S. Senate last week passed legislation on a 88-2 vote that includes the ADVANCE Act, which stands for Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy. The bill previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives in May and now goes to President Joe Biden for approval.

It overhauls aspects of the approval process for new nuclear technologies, according to an overview from the American Nuclear Society.

Under the bill, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be directed to enhance preparedness and coordination to license advanced nuclear fuel, develop strategies and guidance for licensing and regulating “microreactors” and report to Congress on new nuclear energy projects, report on licensing and overseeing nuclear facilities at brownfield sites and more.

Strand noted the bipartisan bill has been worked on in Congress for more than a year, and will help direct additional funding to nuclear tech development.

Traditional nuclear fission plays a role in the state’s energy mix, with two reactors at the Point Beach plant supplying about 15% of the state’s annual net generation since 2013, when the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant shut down. Before then, those two plants accounted for about one-fifth of the state’s electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s website for Wisconsin.

See more coverage of last week’s luncheon at WisPolitics and watch the video.

— Sensitive health data for nearly 20,000 Wisconsin Medicaid members may have been compromised by Disability Rights Wisconsin, according to state health officials.

In a release Friday, the state Department of Health Services announced the nonprofit DRW had a “security incident” that may have exposed protected health information of Medicaid members in the state. This incident was discovered after “suspicious activity” was found on an email account of the disability advocacy group.

The agency and DRW are investigating the security breach and working to “address any complications” that result from it, the release shows. The nonprofit on Friday was mailing notices to state Medicaid members whose information “may have been accessed,” offering free credit monitoring for one year.

A spokesperson for DRW says the compromised health information varies by individual, and the organization will be notifying each affected person about the specific type of information that was “potentially accessible.”

DRW had identified “suspicious activity” linked to two employee email accounts in November 2023 before bringing in third-party cybersecurity experts to secure its network and investigate. While the investigation found certain messages or documents could have been accessed by an “unauthorized party,” the spokesperson noted there’s no evidence that information was accessed or misused.

“For security reasons, we are not providing additional details on the nature of the situation. Information security is one of our highest priorities,” the spokesperson said. “Based on the results of our investigation, we have implemented additional security measures to enhance email security and minimize the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future.”

See the release.

Top headlines from the Health Care Report…

— In a recent GOP radio address, Sen. Romaine Quinn of Cameron emphasizes the importance of access to health care.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— Sanctioned protests will be limited to two areas at next month’s RNC in downtown Milwaukee, excluding a park near Fiserv Forum that Republicans objected to as a potential protest site.

The U.S. Secret Service, which revealed the final security perimeter for the event at a news conference in Milwaukee Friday, said the location, Pere Marquette Park, is too close to the Milwaukee County Historical Society, which is hosting official RNC events, to ensure safety. Thus, the park was included within the hard perimeter, while the two protest sites are outside that zone in the soft perimeter.

Designated protest locations will instead include a speaker stand and parade route south of the security perimeter centered around Zeidler Park, and a speaker stand on the north side of the perimeter across from the Fiserv Forum, the main convention venue.

The southern speaker stand and parade route abut the Baird Center, which hosts the media filing center and some RNC events.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the city of Milwaukee this month, alleging it had restricted the First Amendment rights of people planning to protest the convention as part of the Coalition to March on the 2024 RNC. Mediation efforts broke down last week after the coalition rejected the city’s proposed protest route.

See more at WisPolitics.

— The state’s largest business school, located at UW-Whitewater, has launched a new online undergraduate degree program in human resources.

The university’s College of Business and Economics recently announced the program, which will cover training and developing employees, managing benefits and compensation, employee reactions and more, according to the release.

UW-Whitewater’s announcement spotlights rising demand for quality HR professionals, noting human resource specialist is No. 9 on the state Department of Workforce Development’s list of in-demand jobs.

“HR is always at the center of the organization and is intimately involved with managing its most important asset: People,” said Joshua Knapp, a professor of HR management with the college.

Union workers at RNC venues raise concerns about open-carry, navigating security zone

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