Local perspectives on nuclear power safety
During the 2025 Colorado legislative session, House Bill 25-1040: Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource was passed and signed into law. The bipartisan law officially designates power generated by advanced nuclear reactors as clean energy under Colorado law, and it protects local communities from losing tax revenue if nuclear replaces coal in future projects.
Although this law doesn’t mean nuclear plants are breaking ground tomorrow, it has opened the door for nuclear energy to be part of Colorado’s clean energy future. As a follow-up to our Energy Gap series, we spoke with two local experts — both members of San Isabel Electric — about the safety of modern nuclear power.
NAVY STANDARDS FOR CIVILIAN LIFE
John Pickerill, a former SIEA board director and current member from Pueblo West, served as a nuclear submarine officer in the United States Navy for nearly a decade. He holds a degree in physics from Purdue University.
“In the Navy, safety was our top priority. We had to memorize every system and emergency procedure and were constantly tested on them,” Pickerill said of nuclear submarine equipment. “It took about a year of hands-on training to qualify, and if you missed even one safety question on the final test, you had to start over.” Pickerill said that the crew would spend a quarter of their time running drills to stay prepared for yearly safety inspections.
That type of rigorous safety culture carries over into the civilian nuclear workforce because many commercial nuclear reactor operators are Navy-trained. According to Pickerill, the mindset of constant preparation and zero-tolerance for mistakes is embedded into the industry.
WHAT IT TAKES TO OPERATE A REACTOR
Harold “Hal” Hess, an SIEA member and 11-year Pueblo West resident, spent 43 years testing and maintaining both Navy and civilian nuclear power systems. He has a degree in chemical engineering and was a licensed state mechanical engineer. “I’ve done safety evaluations in nearly every U.S. nuclear plant and in 13 countries,” Hess said. “In my experience, nuclear power is safe, effective, and could be very cost-competitive in the right environment.”
Hess noted that all U.S. nuclear plants underwent extensive upgrades after the high-profile accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. These improvements have significantly reduced the chances of similar events happening again. “I’ve studied all three events closely, and the likelihood of anything on that scale happening again — especially in the U.S. — is very low and continues to drop,” he said.
One reason nuclear is safe, both experts agree, is the requirements to entry are strict. Commercial nuclear operators must complete thousands of hours of education and on-the-job training. The plants themselves undergo continuous monitoring, testing, and inspections — with strict regulations set by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“It’s not just about running the plant day to day,” Pickerill said. “You’re always preparing for every possible emergency — even ones that have never happened. That mindset makes a difference.”
ON THE HORIZON
Two types of advanced nuclear reactors — pressurized water and boiling water — are currently licensed in the U.S. Both have been built before, and the resources and expertise needed to begin construction are already in place. Both types could be started today and completed within four to seven years of signing a contract. They would generate about as much electricity as the Comanche 3 power plant in Pueblo.
Looking ahead, Pickerill is optimistic about a newer design: molten-salt thorium reactors. “Molten salt thorium reactors can make electricity cheaper than wind or solar,” he said. “Thorium is easy to find and the reactor doesn’t need high pressure or a big safety building. It also runs hotter, so it can use a smaller, more efficient turbine to make the same amount of power.” Thorium is a naturally occurring metal found in soil and rock, and it can be used as fuel in certain types of nuclear reactors. It produces less long-term waste and is not feasible for use in nuclear weapons. Pickerill added that the small amount of byproduct these reactors create has useful applications in medicine and space exploration.
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
As San Isabel Electric objectively explores the challenges and opportunities of a changing energy landscape, we’ll continue sharing local perspectives on national conversations.
WHAT IS THORIUM?
Thorium is a soft, silvery metal found naturally in soil and rock. It is mildly radioactive and much more common than uranium. In certain types of advanced nuclear reactors, thorium can be used as fuel to produce electricity. It creates less long-lasting radioactive waste, and the small amount of byproduct can be used in medical imaging and space probes.
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